


The Beautiful Green Witch's Heart of Gold and Diamond

by PrincessOnionElsa21



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Domestic Fluff, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Good Parent Gabriel Agreste, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Lila Rossi Lies, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, M/M, Magic, Mild Language, Modern Era, Protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:14:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 48,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22133869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessOnionElsa21/pseuds/PrincessOnionElsa21
Summary: Adrien hadn't been feeling well so Marinette and Nino decide to let him in on a little secret that isn't such a secret to those who DO know. While Adrien is healing, Lila is worried that Marinette is getting too close to the situation. Spreading rumors won't work this time however, possibly due to a little magic and the fact that Marinette is a Grand Green Witch, one of the strongest in Paris. Slowly, everyone wakes up from the Lila fog and even Gabriel Agreste is starting to realize that maybe there is more than the Miraculous that can heal his beloved. And possibly save the fractured relationship he has with his son... (EDIT AND UPDATE TO ALL READERS!) The story is going to look a little different than usual for a few chapters as we explore the powers of the various Kwami and what they do to affect not only the physical world but also the mental. This means that some scenes will enter a sort of 'other-realm' for battles or important things that need to be covered for further explanation! If anyone has questions, it mostly has to do with mindscapes and realms beyond reality! Please comment and leave an ask if you have questions as we enter the next sequence! Don't be afraid to ask! All opinions are welcome!
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois/Sabrina Raincomprix, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Max Kanté & Alix Kubdel & Lê Chiến Kim, Plagg/Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)
Comments: 48
Kudos: 354





	1. Marinette Introduces Wicca to Adrien as Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting, not beta read, wrote myself with some help from my own studies...Yeah, that's about that for now. See the end notes for any details you might need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time posting, not beta read, wrote myself with some help from my own studies...Yeah, that's about that for now. See the end notes for any details you might need.

Chapter 1 : Marinette Introduces Wicca to Adrien as Therapy

It began with a quiet day. Marinette was sitting at her desk, taking a few notes before looking at the back of Adrien's head and blinking. His hair was messier than usual, his clothes somewhat rumpled. Heck, he had looked beyond tired this morning in the hallway. She still recalled his eyes having the equivallance of designer bags under his eyes. He must have been wearing a TON of makeup to hide all that darkness.

As the bell rings, Marinette waits until Lila and Alya are out the door, Marinette frowning at the fire haired girl as she moved to Lila without speaking to Marinette at all, before walking down to stand beside Adrien's desk where he is out cold, his head resting on his arms. Nino looks worriedly up at her. He was one of the few who didn't fall for Lila's tricks. Aside from Alix, Nathaniel and Max, Nino was one of her bridges to the other side and now it looked like it was time to bring Adrien to the bridge's crossing as well.

"Adrien," Marinette cooed, gently patting Adrien's shoulder and stroking at his hair, a little bit of her pink and white magic spreading out to wake him slowly and carefully. It was bad to wake someone sharply and Nino relaxed when he saw the glittering sparks coming from Marinette's fingers. "Adrien~, time to wake up~..."

The blonde blinked awake slowly before being helped into a sitting position with Nino and Marinette's help. "Wha-what time is it?" he garbled and Nino chuckled as he stood, picking up Adrien's bag alongside his own. 

"You're going to need a pair of swim trunks. Come on dude," Nino murmured and helped Marinette move Adrien down to the front. Madame Bustier looked to them worriedly before she sighed as she noticed he pink light coming off Marinette's fingers where sh was stroking Adrien's hair.

The teacher smiled. "Should I write out two absent notices or three for the next two days?"

Nino looked to Marinette over Adrien's head. Marinette nodded before looking to Madame Bustier. "Three. I usually need a secondary for this sort of tiredness. Unlike when I have Alix help me with the girls, I know I'm going to need a boy this time, so I think Nino should probably stick with me tonight and tomorrow."

"Alright, three passes it is," Madame Bustier states before making a note then writing something else down. "Okay, I'll alert your parents Nino. And I'll contact Monsieur Agreste to alert him that Adrien will be staying with a friend the next three nights. And please, don't worry. I'll make sure he understands thoroughly," she stated with a glint in her eyes. 

Marinette smiled and nodded. One might call Madame Bustier soft but the woman was one of the coven mates in an apartment lot that burned by the creed of, 'If it harm none, let it be done', and would have probably done something to take care of Lila's lies if she could. Problem was, so far Lila had not physically harmed anyone. No physical harm was one thing and emotional another. The main problem was that Marinette had told Madame Bustier and the woman had grit her teeth tightly before stating, "She's blackmailing me with one of her own lies. If I could burn that girl without hurting the ones her lie would hurt, then..." and it hit Marinette that this meant that Lila was also lying to someone the woman knew too.

The three leave the room and head to the lockers where Marinette lets Adrien sleep on her shoulder and Nino swaps out the books for both him and Adrien. Marinette passed Adrien to Nino when it was her turn and she kept a hand on Adrien's head even as she dug through her locker, careful of her books before pulling her backpack into place on her back. She hurried to close the locker and place her other hand on Adrien's arm.

"Hey, what are you three up to?" came a sickly sweet tone and Marinette turned with a frown to see Lila standing there. Lila was smiling sweetly with Alya beside her, frowning. "Adrien looks pretty tired. Are you going to take him to the nurse?"

"No, we're heading to the Dupain-Cheng's bakery to help him get some rest," Nino stated, shouldering Adrien a bit to keep him from falling even as Marinette gently combed back Adrien's mess of hair, careful of knots. "Hopefully a good rest will do him good. We've already gotten Madame to give us a two day pass."

Lila tilted her head. "Wait, what? Why? Is that really a good place for someone so tired? And why two days?"

Nino looked to Marinette before looking to Alya with a frown. "Marinette is going to work her magic as she sometimes does for each of us. This will be Adrien's first time and I'm going to be with them for the next two days. Alya, can you explain this to Lila? I mean, she might need a cleansing herself soon, too, since she has been having so many problems with her wrist and ankles."

Nodding, Alya turned to Lila with a smile. "Marinette is our resident healer. She is well known for making sure we get enough to eat, rest and heal for a couple days. In fact, she even has a special cerification from the hospital and everything!"

This seemed to make Lila blink in confusion. "Wait, healer? Like a Chiropractor? But she's our age! How could she possibly have any such equipment for that!?" Lila gasped, staring at Marinette with contempt but her eyebrows raised in awe and her lips in a small 'o' of confusion. "Isn't it dangerous?"

"She doesn't use any normal equipment," Alya explained, turning her. "Come on. I'll explain while they get Adrien to the bakery."

"But Adrien looks so tired! A proper adult should be called!"

"An adult will be with them at all times," Alya assured while gently pressing at Lila's shoulders. "Sabine or Tom will stay up with them. And besides, the cake is worth it."

"Cake?"

Marinette sighed and turned to Nino, who frowned after the girls before helping lead the semi sleeping Adrien from the room and out of a hidden passage on the side of the school. It was mainly to escape the crowds outside or keep people from asking what was wrong with Adrien, which was nothing that Nino and Marinette were unknowing of. It was done so they could keep an eye on Adrien, make sure their focus was on him. It was nothing new and they did this for everyone in their class sooner or later. Even Madame Mendeliev's class knew of the cleansings and had begged for them usually around exams or times of stress.

Lila tried to follow but Alya led her away. This was a time for Marinette to focus on Adrien. She would need to. For she was the one who would be helping with the healing. Cue Lila questioning loudly about how sex was going to help Adrien. The school went silent and most the school was made up of some form of Wiccan or studier of a craft and threw dirty looks her way because they had seen Adrien in Nino's arms being led off by the Lead Witch of the school.

LIla lost a lot of votes that day.

+

Adrien was laid on the couch in the Dupain-Cheng bakery's upstairs. Nino stayed by his head, gently rubbing a salve into Adrien's bared shoulders while Tom gently helped rub more into Adrien's legs and stomach.

In the kitchen, Marinette was stirring in some honey to a large mug of tea while twirling her finger through the air. In a huge dutch oven pot, a large wooden spoon was stirring slow and carefully so as note to spill the food inside. From the visible cuts were carrots, onions,butternut squash, sweet potatoes, roast tomatoes and parsnip pieces. The smells of olive oil, rosemary, garlic and pepper filled the room amongst all of the other scents but the smells that Marinette was focused most on was the nettle and ginger root mixing with the honey before her. She needed to make sure it was perfect as she muttered softly under her breath.

"Let this liquid be blessed and warm the heart of the one who drinks it. Let them be healed in mind, body and soul. Let all the energy from within my heart connect and help the one drinking this liquid to heal..."

"Mari! He's up!"

Marinette turned and headed from the room, continuing to whisper under her breath as she stirred the tea and honey mix. It smelled a bit like dried cinnamon and warm summer days. It was something that Marinette was always proud of. The tea would only smell as it did if the magic was thickly infused considering the smells and tastes would change depending on things like the spice of the root or the pepper of the nettle. Magic was fickle but she did not mind the extra work for her friends.

Nearing Adrien, who was sitting up with her father to his right and Nino to his left, Marinette smiled and passed forth the tea mug but brought her hands up around Adrien's hands. "Repeat after me," she whispered softly and he nodded weakly, "I am calm. I am grounded. In this circle, I am whole. In this room, I am safe. In my mind, I am sane."

"I am calm...I am grounded..." Adrien whispered and Marinette made him sip before lowering the mug for him to say the next two sentences of prayer. "In this circle, I am whole...In this room, I am safe..." he took another sip then whispered the final piece. "In my mind, I am sane."

"Again," Marinette whispered, sitting between his knees as she held onto the mug and over his hands. "I am calm. I am grounded..."

"...In this circle, I am whole...In this room, I am safe...In my mind, I am sane..."

"Once more," Marinette ordered, the noticable marks under Adrien's eyes already clearing a bit. It was going to take time to get rid of them and lots of rest. "Finish the tea and relax as you repeat these words."

Adrien whispered a bit louder, taking sips between each sentence until the tea was down to the dredges. He sighed and closed his eyes before lowering the mug. "Whoa..."

"You're alright, Adrien," Marinette assured as she took the mug and turned, standing to move over to a setup on the small coffee table where she flipped the mug then whispered softly to herself before lifting it. She stared down at the dredges that had fallen dark and thickly onto the pristine white napkin before she nodded and stood. "Alrighty. Soup and then a nice bath. Nino, you packed those extra swim trunks, correct?"

"Yeah, dude, gotcha covered," Nino said and stood slowly and carefully with Adrien's arm held between his hands while Tom took the other arm. "Alright. Let's go get you to the table then you can relax before the cleansing."

Adrien looked over his shoulder at Marinette, who was walking behind them. "What's a cleansing?"

"It's a bath to calm your nerves and lay all your worries to rest," Marinette explained softly. "Don't worry. You'll be in a pair of swim trunks and I'll be in my own bathing suit while Nino helps with the washing. He's careful and has helped with this before after Kim, Marc and Nathaniel have visited previously."

"A bath?"

"Yeah, don't worry," Nino assured, Marinette's father making sure to stay silent per her request. Trust was important for a treatment and by Tom staying silent, it let the trust in the air build between the three teens. "I promise, nothing weird is going to happen. It's just a thing that Marinette does to soothe and relax both the body and spirit."

Nodding, Adrien faced forward before blinking and looking down. "Why am I in a tank top and shorts?"

Marinette smiled and began to serve three bowls of soup while her father nodded to her before leaving as Nino helped a still reeling Adrien into a chair. "I had Nino rub some salve into your skin to help calm and correct any energy before the cleansing. I'll have Nino put more on you after you're all dry just as a precaution."

Adrien's eyes widened at the sight of the soup bowl before him. "Whoa..."

"Vegan, to smother any pain and to heal your colon, liver and stomach," Marinette stated scientifically before she set a bowl in front of Nino. "Nino and I will have some as well while you eat your fill. Eat as much or as little as you need. And I don't mean what is a model's diet, Adrien," she stated pointedly and he blushed, meaning she saw right through him. "Just relax and review whatever has made you feel off this week. Once you have them, with each bite of vegetable, send them away as you chew and when you swallow, let them disappear with your anger, sadness, bitterness or embarrassment that it may have caused. Once that is done, just try to become one with the moment you are in. Nino and I will do the same, so I need you to just imagine the thoughts disappearing...one...by...one..." Marinette whispered, slowling her speech deliberately as she scooted into her seat then closed her eyes.

Nino smiled and closed his own eyes before taking a slow bite. Adrien followed afterward, staying open eyed a moment before shutting them as he began to slowly take bites. 

Marinette remembered things from the week as she chewed and drowned them, as she had been prone to do these past weeks. It was always hard to try and forget things and she kept most of her most upsetting or unsettling thoughts in several carefully locked away diaries along with diaries her friends kept with her for cases such as Adrien must be having. She never read them but she made sure to help in any way she could if they needed help.

Adrien's voice broke the silence in a small murmur. "I think I need more."

Marinette smiled, opening her arms and filling his bowl again. She knew this was different than any sort of normal eating. Cleansing meant allowing the negatives to disappear, meaning they vanished without hitting the stomach just as the chants and warnings gave. It would be a bit before he was full. Nino helped himself to a second bowl as well a few moments later, causing Marinette to throw him a worried look but she smiled when he gave her a weak smile of his own. Looks like she was in for a double cleansing. Nothing new. Nino usually helped himself as well as his friends when he did this. It was calming for all three of them.

By the time they finished, Adrien was finally full, meaning the disappearing feelings had become a natural need to eat. He sighed and leaned back before eyeing the pot, which was mysteriously empty now. "Did I eat that all by myself?" he questioned, a bit wide eyed.

"Oh, no," Marinette assured with a smile. "Nino and I have our own worries to eat away. And I promise that the feeling you have now will not last. It's also important that you remember it is okay to eat right now. For the next two days, you are to rest and just be at one with yourself."

Nodding, Adrien looked back to where his bowl had been only to find it gone. He blinked before turning and finding Nino walking away from the table with the bowls to a small bucket off to the side of the kitchen that was empty and marked by a small symbol of sorts. "Uh, shouldn't those be washed?"

"No," Marinette answered again with a smile and tilted her head. "All meals will be cooked in this pot, which I will rinse thorougly while the dishes will be washed at the end of day two to banish the last of the dark emotions."

"Oh," Adrien murmured before frowning. "What about your parents?"

"Mama Sabine and Papa Tom are going to be in the secondary apartment across from this one," Nino answered, coming back after disposing of the bowls and he sat down where he had been before Marinette stood and walked slowly and carefully with the dutch oven to carefully rinse it. She only did a quick rinse to get some residue off it, but murmured under her breath for the magic to stay and keep its home inside this vessel.

"Nino, please run the bath," she called over to him as she dried her hands on an apron she was wearing. "And get Adrien into the shorts. I'm going to go change myself into my swimsuit."

"Gotcha, Mari," Nino assured and helped Adrien up. Adrien blinked and Marinette smiled as he seemed confused. Luckily for her, she didn't have to explain why Adrien felt so weak because his own best friend was right there with him.

Once all three were in the bathroom, Marinette carefully drew a circle around the tub once Adrien was inside it and then placed small black, purple hazy looking stones in a pattern along the chalkline. After that, she placed candles on five points like a star before she sighed and lifted her hands above the tub and gave a soft chant of assurance to her goddess and gods. She called upon Mars, Venus and Saturn and asked that they help the one within the water. That the one who was within it be healed and led to a more respective space of mind and hopes. 

Adrien stayed quiet, his eyes wide, and Nino reached to the side, passing a bottle of some sort full of a strangely glowing blue and white water to Marinette, who settled beside the tub and reached out. As if on command, Adrien's hands lifted and she rinsed his hands with the water, once again calling on Venus to help lead the limbs to a safe place of mind, that their joints be healed and that they might find love instead of burning hate. Adrien fell into the trance all her healings came under. When the time came, she tipped the bottle over Adrien's head and its contents proceeded to spill and coat every inch of Adrien in its strange coolness. It didn't feel like ice, but it certainly made him feel more aware than before. Marinette set the bottle down beside her before looking to Adrien and smiling.

"Wha-what was that?" he whispered in confusion even as Nino seemed to be readying some sort of sweet smelling soap off to the side. 

"Moon water infused with white pearl dust and moonstone powder," Marinette murmured, moving slowly to begin rubbing at his hair, which smelled so heavenly all of a sudden. "This next part will be mostly Nino but I have to keep working with your hair. Once all the energy has been released for the day, you will have more tea and there will be a journalling session."

Adrien blinked and tipped his head back to look at her as Nino began to wash Adrien's legs with great efficiency but also a slow, caring touch. "Journalling? What for?"

"Even with a lot of the memories removed, the hope is that you will also get out any emotions left behind. For the next two days that it how it will work. You will wake, take a bath with Nino as your guide, then I will fix breakfast. After, we will all sit and write for one hour. Once that is done, we will have tea. There will lots of tea. As the two days progress, you will slowly work back up to a normal enough diet and then you can drink coffee and eat croissants or whatever it is your father does not feed you and we will go on with life until the next time you crash!" Marinette said so happily it must have been normal for her.

"How many times have you done this for others?" Adrien asked with a frown, lifting his head as she began to scrub something that smelled strongly of lemon grass and several other sweet things. "And how many do you do for yourself?"

A sigh left the girl before she made him lay down so his hair swirled in the glittering water. "I am a witch, Adrien. I do this every day, whether for myself or someone else," she explained softly. "Sometimes I have bridges such as Nino, who bring those that need help across to me. I have looked after every single class I have ever been in and Nino is my closest confidante in that department. Ever since I was a child, we have been doing this. First with help from our parents and then on our own."

"But we're only fifteen?" Adrien whispered in shock, his green eyes wide. "That's impossible! Can you really become a witch at fifteen?"

Marinette giggled. "Adrien, I've been a witch since I could tie my shoes."

It was as if something was dawning on Adrien and he nodded slightly before closing his eyes as Marinette rubbed more of the sweet smelling soap into his hair. He could feel Nino working his way up his stomach. "Why do you help with the head and not the body?"

"While he is a bridge," Marinette explained with a hum, "He has no outlying magic. His is more...like a turtle. Trapped in its shell but coming out when needed, you know? My magic is more open and comes like...a bunch of ladybugs coming together. It is always there and I can send it out at will but it can only do good."

"Ah," Adrien sighed in acknowledgement. He stayed close eyed before opening his eyes slowly to look up at her. She was focused heavily on his hair, gently stroking through to the ends and then working back through. "Why so many times?"

"Trust me, bro," Nino whispered where he now sat beside the tub scrubbing over Adrien's clavicle and up his neck. "When you get out, you'll see why."

Confusion filled Adrien's eyes before he closed his eyes again as Marinette began to gently scrub at his face, which he felt was honestly not necessary considering how his father was so strict with his facial routines, but whatever.

Right before Adrien got out, he was told to stand and warned that this next part would most likely sting, burn, just feel like ice, or all of the above. He sighed and said, "Beauty is pain?"

Marinette giggled and Nino nodded with a grin of his own before they reached down and lifted a large ceramic jug marked by moons up. Quickly, it raised over his head and he gave a gasp of surprise as a fiery yet freezing feeling came over him. It seemed to settle and he opened his eyes once it was over before blinking in shock. Everything that had been so blurry the past week now looked clearer.

"Whoa. That was an experience," he mumbled and looked down, frowning because the water didn't look that different. Save that it looked like something gray was spreading from his body and out into the depths. 

"Hey, sit down a moment," Marinette ordered, reaching for the bottle of moon water. "Once more. I think it's needed."

She looked worriedly down at the water, which was beginning to darken, before she began the dousing again, this time with Adrien watching avidly. When it went over his head, he closed his eyes before looking down at the water and could not help but to stare. The white of the moon water was being eaten by the black that creapt from his skin. And the weird thing? It looked like it was actually coming FROM his skin. "Is that coming from me?" he whispered in horrified awe.

"Yes. Your feelings and emotions are so deep and broken that it appears that your skin retained some of the energy and it was just released," Marinette explained, helping him from the bathtub and pulling him over to a strange looking shower where she and Nino stood on either side of him and connected hands. "I need you to reach out and turn on the water. I'm not going to lie, it WILL be cold. It's supposed to be. Once it's warm and you have been really washed clear of as much darkness as possible, we're going to hopefully get you dressed then have a journalling session while I make a snack. I don't think this will be as easy as I thought it was going to be."

Adrien nodded and reached out, turning on the water. He gave a choked gasp because it really was cold. He shut his eyes and it slowly warmed. Once it had, he looked down and saw more of the darkness disappearing down the drain. Weird part? it was oozing out of his skin, like some scene from an anime, and was slowly turning gray. 

Marinette gave a weak sigh of relief. "I thought so. Two days will be enough to work it out of his system, but he'll need a treatment once every month at this rate. So much darkness can kill a person."

"What about Chat Noir?" Nino asked. "Would he have this problem?"

"Well, the mask does not mean a thing," Marinette assured, ordering Adrien to scrub at his arms and chest while under the water, causing more black to ooze out before it slowly dripped away in grey teardrops. "I'm sure even Ladybug has this problem. With my daily cleansings, I keep a lot of the darkness at bay. It's how I'm always happy and able to handle a lot of things. However, I think Ladybug must be doing something similar because she has been able to work and smile all the same. Unless something big happens in her private life, I don't think we've got anything to worry about...Then again, Chat Noir might not be getting his own cleansings. Unless he's going to a healer. Maybe I can send out a flier? A note from Alya on the Ladyblog? Any thoughts boys?"

"I think he's already seeing a healer though," Adrien admitted himself, feeling dread settle in his stomach as he shut his eyes and scrubbed at his face, feeling globs of a sort come off his skin. "I mean, he's gotta have it pretty bad and doing all that, he still looks so happy when he fights."

"Life is hard and then you die," Marinette hummed. "He must be seeing someone. Maybe even the same person as Ladybug. I mean, who else would they trust with their secrets besides someone they could trust?"

Once Adrien felt the water become super hot, he shut it off then opened his eyes and glanced down, sighing in relief because the last of the black was going down the drain along with smaller tears of gray.

"Okay, before we break the circle," Marinette whispered and looked to Nino. "Nino, chant with me."

He nodded and bowed his head, leaning it against Adrien's shoulder as Marinette was doing. Adrien stood still as the two seemed to pray or something. He caught some words from it but other than the few words, like, 'protect', 'heal', and 'define', he could not understand most of it and yet they were able to speak it at the same time.

When they finished, Marinette sighed and lifted her head. "Slowly Nino. This is a strong circle and we have to be careful when we break it."

"Slowly," Nino agreed before their hands began to pull away as they moved slowly away from Adrien's sides. A strange cold fell over the three and they sighed in relief when nothing apparent happened. "Hera must be smiling on us," the dark haired boy muttered and reached up to touch his face. "We all good? Everyone's faculties good?"

"I'm alright," Adrien spoke with a nod.

"Same here," Marinette sighed before smiling. "Thank the goddesses."

As if in answer the candles flickered out one by one before flaring with a blue flame only to slowly fade back to their gentle yellow glow. Adrien stared at them before looking at Marinette. "You have got to teach me this stuff. At least enough to help with the weird black goop?"

"Trust me, Adrien," Marinette sighed again. "I think it might be a good idea. I haven't seen anything like this since I cleansed Chloe."

Both boys looked to her with worry. "You actually got a hold of her?" Nino asked.

Nodding, Marinette bit her lip. "Yeah. I worry about her but she comes in for monthly cleansings now and kinda does a spa day with me. She hasn't had too many problems since that first day...but you know how it can be with her."

"So that's why you and she don't argue as much anymore," Adrien whispered with awe. "I thought something was up but whoa! Are you guys...?"

"Chloe is my friend who no one must ever know about," Marinette spoke gravely. "She tries to keep up the image but she doesn't act as she used to. She has mourned her grievances, come to the end of her rope and admitted her evils. She sunk to the very bottom after Lila appeared and she realized just what it felt like to be hurt by lies. Even though she hasn't been Queen Bee in a while, she still tries to be better than who she was. Not in popularity, but rather in how she acts. She has told me over and over that she just wants to be a better person but Lila makes her so mad it is hard. Not gonna lie, I have the same issues sometimes."

Adrien froze before looking sharply to Nino but Nino merely looked worried for Marinette. "I hope that the Lila thing isn't hurting your magic too much?"

"It has been...hard. I am not going to lie, but I will say that I have really had to push myself to control these emotions of mine. It's...exhausting. I'm just really tired but I don't mind doing this. It helps me as much as it helps others. Like Adrien here who appears to be wrought with emotional havoc," Marinette spoke with a cocky grin and both boys laughed at that dark joke.

+

The next day was more the same save the fact that Adrien bathed three more times before settling into a warm bed, belly full of a different kind of stew from the previous day. And so followed on the second day.

By the end of the day and it was time for bed, Marinette smiled and walked to the door, drawing a line through a circle she had made on the back. A strange aura burst through the air before Adrien blinked and stared because it looked like little creatures were hurrying past him and out the windows, which weren't even open. Confused, the blonde looked to Nino and the glasses wearing boy explained, "Marinette was just breaking the circle. We weren't allowed to leave because of that circle. It kind of dims the need to leave and protects all within it. Mama Sabine does the same in the other apartment sometimes when she needs a moment to herself."

"What is a circle?" Adrien asked, having had the question since the first evening. 

"Think of the circle that Marinette drew around the bathtub each time you took a bath," Nino explained. "What is inside the circle is protected from outside influence and is supposed to feel safe or comforted. Sometimes this is done on an altar with crystals. Everything is placed around a central circle and marks what sort of spell or emotion you wish to cast. Marinette loves protection spells and usually worries about others, so it's not all that weird that Marinette is used to making circles. She even uses them at school sometimes but Madame Bustier worries it might attract too much attention."

Adrien nodded in understanding before turning back to the door where Sabine was now standing with Tom. "Everyone get ready for bed, okay?" Sabine spoke with a smile. "Boys, why don't you sleep in Marinette's room tonight. It is currently the safest place in this house and I worry from the energy I felt running through here every single time the bathing took place."

"Sorry, maman," Marinette murmured, hugging the woman. "Adrien had a lot of build up. It's going to take a few more move throughs to fix this. But..."

"Don't worry for now," Adrien assured and tugged at the hood of his kigurumi, which he had basically live in these past two days. It was handmade by Marinette and she had smiled as she passed it to him. A black cat kigurumi...that matched the green turtle one Nino wore and the ladybug one that Marinette wore. Apparently there were Kigus for everyone she knew, even Lila, that looked like a monarch butterfly in style from oranges to black to white. He almost mistook it for a fox but Marinette showed him the fox one she made for Alya and he realized the differences right away. "I'm good. I'll feel up for school tomorrow at least."

"Alright, the best place in my room to sleep that is the safest is my loft," Marinette spoke and looked pointedly at her father, who grinned sheepishly and looked away. "So. As long as we promise no funny business, let's get to bed. We have school tomorrow."

Adrien yawned and hurried after her with Nino right behind. Sleep...IN A BED! After two nights on a special pallet resting on a wooden floor surrounded by a circle of crystals and chalk? Oh, was Adrien ready for a bed.

Plagg was nowhere to be found but the ring had never left Adrien's form so he knew that the furball was somewhere nearby. Wherever he was however, he must be happy otherwise... who knows what destruction would have befallen the home?

All curled up in Marinette's bed, Nino and Adrien waited on her as she turned on some fairy lights and lit incence that she placed high above the bed on a special stand so it would not burn everything and yet send out a gentle warm scent like lavendar and some form of marshmallows. Everything done, Marinette climbed under one blanket while the other two got a blanket each of their own. It seemed a theme, cat print for Adrien, turtle print for Nino and ladybugs with lotuses for Marinette.

All three were out for the count right away and yet Adrien could still feel the gentle, lingering warmth of the last bath, the last meal and the last cup of tea as well as the warm feeling of hominess that he didn't usually get to have settle into his bones as he fell out. But Marinette's words came to him in his sleep from that first day.

"Trust me Adrien...I think it might be a good thing..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone says anything, I stretched the valley with the magic thing. Originally I was just going to have it be simple everyday witchcraft instead of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' stuff. But this IS Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir, so of course I had to poof it up a bit. Tikki and Plagg will appear more as the story progresses but I don't want to give too many details.
> 
> And yes, I do study a bit in witchcraft and like to play around with ideas for it. Some of my ideas come from books, others is basic knowledge of Greek Mythology (which will come into the story for reasons) and a bit of knowledge to do with Egyptian Gods (THIS IS NOT YU-GI-OH!!!). I've also been one for crystals so anything anyone finds wrong, let me know so I can edit my own notes. Same goes for my studies in the craft. 
> 
> I'm already working on Chapter 2, so if this doesn't flop, then hopefully we'll have a nice, kinda salty, kinda sweet story!  
> Thank you for following the development of-Ah, snap, that's taken. Um, Thank you for reading and hopefully there will be more!


	2. 2 - The Great Divide and Healing + Mysterious Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick peek into the river formed by Lila's own faults, Gabriel sits in on a lesson, and something weird seems to be happening...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note, Adrien is still learning to name a few things, though he knows most on sight. And Tikki and Plagg make their first appearance! Check the notes below for more information, but I want to say thank you to all those who have read this so far!

2 - The Great Divide and Healing + Mysterious Magic

Adrien sighed as he stretched and grinned, walking to Marinette's left as Nino walked to her right. "Ah~! I feel great!" he laughed and this made the pair beside him laugh as well. "I can't wait to begin classes with you, Mari. I've already learned so much!"

"Trust me, it's a lot of information," Marinette warned with a smile. "Just try to pace yourself but focus on one of the things about it that make you enjoy it. For me it was the herbal and cooking as well as the crystals. But like I said, focus on the few things I've given you. And make sure you keep that amethyst on you as often as possible. It will slowly turn clear and that is the best time to cleanse. So you just tell me when the stone is completely clear and looks like glass and we'll do another treatment as soon as possible."

They had just walked onto the school grounds when Marinette suddenly froze and looked around. Adrien blinked and looked to her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and looked to Nino, who nodded as if knowing what was going through her head. The three headed into the school and immediately things began to look...off...

People seemed segragated, and Adrien realized in that moment that people WERE parted from their usual groups. Two sides of the quad were being used. One group was bigger than the other. One group was smaller and at the middle was Lila, who was sobbing about something or other.

Ah, that explains it.

As they entered, Alya neared from Lila's group, rubbing her arms awkwardly. "Mari...I think we need to talk."

Marinette looked to her worriedly before they walked off. Nino led Adrien over to the bigger group and suddenly Adrien felt a familiar rush, like when the circle was made and when it broke. He looked down and saw a chalk line along with what looked like salt. 

"Hey Adrien," spoke up Nathaniel from off to the side with Marc, who was busy writing in a black notebook again. "How did the cleansing go?"

Adrien blinked. "How did you...?"

The redhead smiled and looked to the ground before looking back at the model. "You just look like you've actually gotten three years of sleep and a proper meal for the first time. I know that look on your face because I've seen it in the mirror."

So Nathaniel had been to a cleansing too. Adrien nodded and looked around. "Are all those here ones who have been cleansed, done cleansing or are studying?"

Nodding, Nathaniel looked to Nino. "Your girlfriend needs help. She's...Not doing so hot. Lila is making her feel small and I'm beginning to think the only reason Rose hangs with Lila is because she keeps an eye on Alya."

"I'll look into it," came the reply and Nino patted Adrien's shoulder. "I'm going to go do that now, too. Dude, keep an eye on that amethyst and make sure you get to class on time."

Adrien nodded and turned to watch Nino walk in the direction Alya and Marinette had gone. It was telling in the way that Nino followed the line before making a small mark in the air only to walk over the chalk line with a shiver. "Hm..." Adrien hummed and moved to sit beside Nathaniel. "What are you two working on?"

+

"Girl, Lila seriously thinks that's what it is," Alya explained with a frown. "And she said she knows a bit of the craft as well. She has shown us pictures of her crystal collection and Grimoire. You can't deny she knows something about it. Maybe you should collaborate or bring her into your circle?"

"Alya, I told you," Marinette murmured, frowning. "She is a liar. And if you aren't going to check your sources, or hers, then I don't think we should talk until you have done so."

"Mari! Alya!" came a call and both girls looked to the side where Nino was nearing with a frown on his face.

"Nino, you need to tell Marinette that she needs to get over herself," Alya grumbled, crossing her arms. "She tells me to find proof but where is hers?"

The ballcap-wearing boy frowned and looked to Marinette before he pulled out his phone. "Alya, there's something you should see..."

+

"I just don't understand why she hates me! We're both studying the craft and everything! Witchery is in my blood and my nana would hate it if I made enemies after being on the road to being a High Mage in my home city."

Lila's stories were getting boring. Rose moved to her feet slowly and carefully, moving slowly around the group listening to Lila's regalls of thwarting monsters and summoning some of heaven's angels to help her nana or blah, blah, blah. Even Rose was tired of the stories. She had long ago checked in with Ali and he provided proof that he honestly had no idea who Lila was. If that was a lie, what was to be said in that what she spoke now wasn't as cursed?

Rose crossed the circle after making a small mark and hurried to Juleka. Her Jewels opened her arms and Rose leapt into them, her arms wrapping around her tightly. Lila had been trying to break them up for months. Like that was going to happen. Off to the other side of the quad, Rose saw Ivan and Mylene frown across the way at her before turning back to the liar in disguise. So far, the pair were the only ones left in the class who even believed Lila's words or just didn't want to cause mischief.

Alix had made a show of going between groups several times, making it obvious she didn't care either way. Then again, Rose reminded herself as she watched Alix slip over the line without issue like usual, the pink haired girl was a time jumper and none of those that truly knew truly cared just how amazing a skill it was anymore because Alix was fast, a rabbit foot sort. It made Rose a bit jealous but she didn't mind after awhile because Alix told her the secrets to Lila's success in class.

Now that all of it was over, Alix merely played gopher and Rose appreciated it even as Kitty Section began to suffer. If things didn't work out with Ivan though, Alix had promised that she knew her way around a drum set and Marinette was already designing a new outfit for her should this happen. 

Rose's gaze shifted before her eyes widened when she saw a fuming Alya come stomping from the courtyard. "Oh no..."

+

Lila turned with a smile when she saw Alya. But that smile dropped when she noticed the strange way Alya was looking at her. "Alya?"

Before the fire haired girl could get a word out, lucky for her, the warning bell rang and everyone hurried from their spots and hurried to class. Everyone who had been around the brunette said their goodbyes before heading to class. Ivan stood between Alya and Lila, which made Lila feel a bit powerful at the motion.

Once they got to the classroom though, something was off. Like the fact that even though Ivan and Mylene sat together, everyone else had moved back to their original spots. Even...

...Dupain-Cheng and Lahiffe.

"Um, I need to sit in front," Lila spoke up with a frown. "Everyone knows that."

"But I thought Ladybug cured your Tinittus?" Dupain-Cheng asked, tilting her head and Alya coughed while Adrien bowed his head and Nino turned away with a cough of his own.

Fuming, Lila walked to sit in the back, expecting a full attack on the dark haired girl at her expense as she made herself look scared and worried. She tried so hard that it almost felt real. Problem was that no one would so much as look at her. Even Ivan and Mylene wouldn't look at her.

What had happened in three minutes for Ivan and Mylene and her little horde of followers to suddenly turn face!?

+

"Hmm," Marinette murmured and closed her eyes as she rested against a collumn in the quad. It was a lunch period but the poor witch was so confused over something that wouldn't leave her mind. What was that black sludge that oozed from Adrien? What if others produced it too? And worse, what if it had to do with Hawkmoth? What did that make of her to-be student...and crush? 

"Awe, is the little tramp tired?" came a voice that Marinette didn't know and she turned to see a group of girls standing there. Confusion was evident and it made the leader laugh. "Lila told us all about your little side business. So. How many? How much money you making on it?"

Marinette grew even more confused. "What are you talking about? I don't understand?"

The girl, a brunette with her hair in high twintails but with ties at the bottoms like Lila's, stomped her foot. "Stop playing, Little Miss Innocent! You're sleeping around. And once word has spread, all of Paris will know and you will be decimated for treating Lila like that!"

"Mari!"

"Hey!"

The girl and her group turned sharply to see Adrien, Nathaniel, Alya, Rose and Nino standing there with the rest of the witches, Wiccans, or those in training behind them. It was six against a whole faculty. "Oh good! Your little friends are here and can have the truth!" the strange girl spoke with a smirk. "Your little friend, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, has been sleeping around and spreading it as a 'healing' ritual of sorts. We're so sorry, Adrien, you must be so terrified to have had to deal with Dupain-Cheng."

Adrien frowned. "Marinette didn't do anything untoward to me. And we didn't sleep together. She is a natural healer and she is teaching me how to use it. All of us are."

This made the girl and her group stop. "Wait, Lila said you were forced to sleep with her. That you were going to get a restraining order for Dupain-Cheng but she's blackmailing you!"

"No," Adrien spoke with a grimace. "Okay. I'm going to say this right now. Lila lies about everything. She doesn't know anything and she hasn't spoken to me for the past three days. I've literally been out of it all, away from her, and Marinette didn't hurt me. Why would I get a restraining order for a friend? She is important and precious to me. Lila is a stalker. And she just can't stop lying."

Marinette felt her heart quicken. Adrien had admitted to Lila's wrongdoings. It was both incredible and horrifying coming out of his mouth.

"Marinette is not sleeping around," Rose spoke up and neared, holding out her hand to reveal a charm, the symbol of the Paris Witch Coven, a small white flower pin with a set of three red tear shaped jewels. "Please. If you say this about her then you say this about all the other girls here."

Paling, Lila's friends looked to each other. Enlightenment was beginning. And hopefully not at too bad a cost.

+

Gabriel walked to the front of the mansion, stepping down the stairs and standing at the top of the lower staircase as Adrien walked into the home. His grey eyes widened because a strong glow surrounded Adrien and he looked almost clean in some way that was different from any other. He looked...happy. "Adrien?" he asked softly, catching the boy's attention and almost immediately the light began to dim. It made Gabriel want to flinch. What sort of magic was this?

"Hello father," Adrien spoke softly, almost brokenly. How had Gabriel never heard it before? "I...I'm sorry I've been out of commission these past two days..."

"No," Gabriel spoke up with a frown. "I think it did you good. You actually look...rested and alive compared to the first day you stayed with the Dupain-Chengs. I would like to know, however, just what they were doing to cause this?"

The light grew again and Gabriel gave himself a mental pat on the back. "My friend Marinette is a Natural Healer. She helped by using things that seem so ordinary and sound like something out of a movie! Father, she's..." the light grew a bit before dimming. "She promised to teach me some so that I can help to guide myself down an easier path. And I promise, she didn't do anything bad."

"Something out of a movie?" Gabriel whispered, a small twitch in his chest suddenly causing him to feel something he hadn't in forever. Could it be...? "I want to know everything that happened these past few days. And leave nothing out. I think a sit down dinner will do both of us some good."

The light around Adrien only seemed to grow brighter.

+

The black ooze worried Marinette again as she checked the drains a third time the night after Adrien had gone home. Darkness usually came in the form of some sort of spirit burning, that was what the pearl and moon water helped with, to heal and soothe. But this? Even Chloe had not expelled such darkness.

"Any luck, Marinette?" Tikki asked, floating beside her chosen. "Are you sure it isn't anything...?"

"No, it just seems like the bad things took on another form. Something darker and more sinister. I'm thinking I might need to consult my books," Marinette hummed, looking over the drains a final time before shaking her head. This did seem odd. What was this ooze compared to the normal black she dealt with? Usually the black was either a tainted liquid of sorts like from Akuma Victims, or a fine smoke that issued after the moon water was dumper over their heads. She had never seen anything like this...Nothing so thick it practically worked like puss from an open wound.

Tikki floated around a moment before frowning and nearing the young witch. "It didn't feel like anything I've ever felt before. At least not in thousands of years."

This caught Marinette's attention. "Keep going," she pressed, knowing Tikki didn't like talking about the past but maybe it would help with this. And it might give her an idea of where to look.

"So, some time back," Tikki explained as Marinette climbed to her feet and left the bathroom, heading to her room and closing the trapdoor (even with her parents downstairs tasked with taking care of the stragglers, it was still weird having Tikki out and about with them able to catch her at any time), "There was a Ladybug who helped to heal, just like you. But she wasn't called a witch. She was actually the right hand of a king and looked after his people. However, she came across one such individual whose darkness became something physical. Only, it didn't disappear like Adrien's darkness did. And it had more a mind of its own."

"Like Sentimonsters?" Marinette asked, turning as she marked her floor around her hidden altar and hurried to invite Tikki in before she lit the candles and set a circle of markings to which Tikki moved to sit in the middle of. It wasn't new to them, seeing as Tikki was the very Goddess of Creation. Marinette had consulted her books, her mother's old notes and even some of the witches around town if perhaps she could use something living on her altar. As long as that thing was not used for evil, had no ties to evil, or would cause destruction, they saw no harm in it. Tikki had joked about Plagg but Marinette was not willing to try it with the tiny Kwami of Destruction. Oh, Goddess, the things that might cause. 

A soft pink glow came from the amethyst that surrounded Tikki alongside the clear quartz. Was it cheating to use a Goddess to empower stones? "No. These creatures were the ones she fought back then with her Chat Noir. It was actually kind of scary for a while because neither of them, Ladybug or Chat Noir, could solve what was happening or why the strange goop was becoming sentient. And the weirdest part? None of what Adrien gave off compares to what I've felt before as far as darkness is concerned. We're just lucky it isn't sentient."

Nodding, Marinette checked her grimoire before setting it to the side. "Hm...Black goop. An ooze that could or could not be sentient...and something so dark that it literally downed Adrien because it was so strong..."

"I have felt something similar but weaker to the energy that Adrien gave off that first day, though," Tikki ammended. "When we were in Adrien's house, I felt something from within. I can't place where but...?"

"We'll figure it out," Marinette assured before closing her eyes. "For now, we need to purify the house. Tikki, let's begin with this floor and work our way down."

+

Going to Adrien's with everything she would need made Marinette feel awkward. For one, she was pulling along a small wagon of things and for another, who in their right mind walks through Paris with everything you need for a base cleansing which included three huge cast iron cooking equipment? Tikki had giggled as Marinette grumbled to herself and piled everything in. She should have called him but oh, no, she wanted to walk because it was such a nice day and the sun would help to empower everything. She had three, small, covered, ceramic tubs full of moon water. She was lucky that the following day had been the start of the weekend with a new moon following right after.

When she finally arrived, she smiled and looked up at the mansion before nearing the little camera. She pressed the button but didn't flinch like she would have before as Nathalie's voice asked, "What is it, Miss Dupain-Cheng?"

"I'm here to see Adrien for his training," Marinette stated simply and waved to the huge wagon behind her. "And I brought everything."

"I see. I will meet you at the door."

With that, the gate opened and Marinette hurried through and up to the doors as they opened. Nathalie looked tired and this caused the girl to pause. Not only did she look wiped out, she also had the same darkness to her that Adrien had. Hm?

"Is...all of this necessary?" the woman asked and seemed bewildered by the sheer amount of items Marinette had brought from home.

"Miss Nathalie," Marinette murmured and neared slowly, dropping the wagon handle and nearing the woman, who continued to stare as if in a daze. "Are you feeling alright?"

This snapped the woman from her thoughts. "I-I am fine, Miss Du-!"

"Please call me Marinette," the young witch spoke gently, carefully. "And I can bring these in by myself. Adrien said he has a room I can use on the first floor. And he said there's a bathroom with an open tub in the middle?"

"Yes, of course."

The words seemed so mechanical and there was something definitely off about the woman. Perhaps the first lesson would be happening sooner than Marinette first thought.

Once everything was inside, Marinette checked out the kitchen and was glad she had brought her own things along with an herb cupboard. "We have everything you could possibly need food-wise, and Adrien is on a strict diet," Nathalie was saying even as Marinette set up the herb cupboard and began to fill it. "Besides this, surely there are better means of storing the seasonings you have brought instead of this...what even is it?"

"It's an Herb Cubby," Marinette spoke up. "No light is best for these sorts of herbs and they can't be kept in jars because of open air and like I said, light. I've also brought several jars and things that need to be refrigerated. Adrien explained that would not be a problem."

"And it isn't," Nathalie agreed even though she sounded stiff still. She led the way over to the small fridge that was obviously just bought per Marinette's word to Adrien. "But why do you need all these things? Does it not make more sense to-?" she was cut off by a harsh cough and she doubled over as she choked and tried to fight it back.

Marinette hurried to her and knelt beside her. "Are you ill, Nathalie?"

"I'm fine," the woman assured but Marinette could see the life draining from her. Just as it had been from Adrien. But this was different in that it seemed to be coming from deep inside her, Marinette able to feel the darkness burrowed deep within the woman. Whatever the connection was, it was obviously coming from within this home. Perhaps it truly was a sickness?

"No you most certainly are not," Marinette spoke with a frown and an authoratative voice that made Nathalie look up wide eyed. "I need to know if you have a bathing suit, Nathalie. Because you are going to be Adrien's first cleansing among his own. We haven't much time and I didn't want to rush into this, but I see now that that is unavoidable."

+

Adrien blinked as he looked around in shock. The front foyer of the mansion was marked by multiple chalk drawings, sigils here and there that screamed of energy and Plagg even poked his head out in shock. "A witch has definitely been here," the Kwami whispered in awe, staring at one sigil in particular. "And each of these seem to be so well done! Was it your new little teacher?"

"Marinette?" Adrien whispered back before turning when he heard a soft motion of sorts. Nathalie was coming from upstairs dressed in a white robe and appeared to be blushing as her bare feet walked carefully across the marble. "Nathalie? What's going on?"

"You're friend is here and apparently I am going to be your test subject," the woman stated darkly, her eyes narrowed. "She asked me to wear a swimsuit and even asked that your father be present. What is the girl doing?"

"She's a witch, Nathalie," Adrien whispered to the woman. "I promise, it will be fine."

Nodding with a questioning frown, she turned and walked to the bathroom that Adrien had spoke of previously with Marinette that they could use. Sure enough, there were candles, chalk, and even crystals of various sorts settled on the counter. It was strange seeing them but he summed up that this was going to be something he would have to get used to. At least he had names for them now. From the yellow tinted Smoky Quartz to the easily recognizable by color Black Tourmaline, he knew this was going to be a cleansing similar to his own.

Marinette was already in her swimsuit and was speaking with Adrien's father as the man stood there in his usual suit and hard stare, though something was different. Gabriel Agreste was a man of few faces. But the expression, which was usually so frozen in stone, appeared questioning and wondering of what Marinette was up to.

"Okay," Marinette spoke with a clap when she saw Adrien. "I'm going to need you to get changed into swimtrunks then come back so we can form a circle. This is important and you're going to learn firsthand how to place the five points and build a crystal release grid."

"As you say, teacher," Adrien spoke with a grin before hurrying from the room to change. Plagg flew up on a cupboard of the bathroom as Adrien left so as to make sure he still got to watch. Swimtrunks on, Adrien stepped back into the room and Marinette explained everything as she helped Nathalie into the tub. It was pretty simple, creating the circle with chalk, then placing the crystals, placing the candles at the five points, then lighting them. His teacher even stated with a straight face and a strong look that this was not to be toyed with and that you should never, EVER, attempt to use this for something bad. What is evil comes back three times stronger. She could not stress it enough.

"My job will become your job eventually and I'll teach you how to do it by yourself after you've managed what I've already taught Nino. And these things will take time. Just because this session might go right on the first go, does it mean it is perfect. Nothing in witchcraft is perfect and you should never expect the same things to happen each turn. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Adrien agreed before looking around then sitting beside the tub when ordered and Marinette sealed the circle, the candles lighting on their own while a soft light came from the crystals.

Gabriel's breathe noticably caught while Nathalie's eyes widened. Marinette ignored it and gently led Nathalie to turn slowly in the tub so Adrien could watch the process of rubbing pearl and moon water into the woman's skin. "Hm..."

Adrien watched attentively, seeing the way the white and blue was absorbed. A slow, gentle feeling filled the air and Nathalie seemed to fall into a trance, her eyes shutting slowly as she relaxed. It was the first time anyone had seen her so calm.

-

Gabriel watched from off to the side, not stepping over the line as he had been told not to. It was strange watching as Adrien helped rub some sort of soap into Nathalie's legs then stomach and up while Marinette guided him from where she sat stroking a strange shampoo of sorts into Nathalie's hair. But the strangest part was the soft pink glow coming from Marinette's hands as she stroked them soothingly over and over again through the dark red streaked locks. 

"Here, Nathalie, lay down," Marinette spoke softly and helped the woman to lay down slowly into the tub. A strange black was slithering in the water and Gabriel could only wonder what it was because the dark tendrils did not look like worms or anything earthly at all. In fact, they seemed to burn up within the water mere moments after escaping Nathalie's skin.

Once Nathalie was washed and scrubbed carefully, she was sat up and Marinette picked up the special jug of moonwater, giving the warnings she had given before. And just like with Adrien, Nathalie gasped loudly when it was poured over and slowly a creeping black began to slide out of her skin.

"As I thought," Marinette hummed, looking to the water before looking to the circle, making a sign in the air and the light slowly died away. "Okay, the circle is broken. But we need to get her in the shower. Remember what Nino and I did for you, Adrien? Form a circle with me."

Gabriel watched avidly as the teens helped a stunned Nathalie from the tub and into the huge shower before Marinette warned Nathalie as she had Adrien while connecting her own hands with Adrien's. The water began off cold according to the girl and Nathalie gasped in pain before...

The man's eyes widened. An eerie black goo was sliding down Nathalie's body, bunching from her chest, sliding down her sides, coming from her very pores. Marinette guided her without touching her and keeping her hands tightly clasped with Adrien's in a circle inches from around Nathalie's waist. "Make sure you scrub your face and hair as well, Nathalie. When Adrien starts doing this himself, he'll be marking a circle without me and you will have to help him just as he helps you."

Slowly, the black sludge turned gray before falling into a softened warm, earthy-gray color. Marinette gave a soft sigh that sounded perplexed. 

"Alright. Meal time."

Again, Gabriel was caught off guard. A meal? But rather, it made him wonder what that sludge was and the strange fact that Nathalie actually looked more alive than before. Still tired but definitely better. She even looked lighter and a soft glow was beginning around her. 

Just as it had with Adrien.

Adrien gave the warning that this would feel different from normal and Nathalie sat in a robe at the table, Gabriel across from, Adrien beside Nathalie and Marinette beside Gabriel. The meal was warm and soothed the soul. Gabriel wasn't going to lie, the meal was very delicious. How they made it through the entire huge pot, he would not understand. But that was fine. Nathalie already looked so much lighter and like the years had been slowly cleansed from her body.

Marinette did say something, that alerted Gabriel, that cleansing was to be done in a controlled environment. It was imperative that there be trust between both the cleanser and person on the other end. The fact that Adrien and Marinette were able to break their circle in the shower without backlash, proved the amount of trust Nathalie had in them.

Was it possible that this cleansing could help with more than he thought? "How often will this need to be done?" Gabriel asked with a small frown. His usually tight expression had gone away easier than before into something softer. He didn't want to hurt this girl who appeared to be helping in more ways than they knew. More than he, himself, knew.

"It's a three day process," Marinette explained. "The first is done in the evening of the first day. Usually it starts with a meal, but we couldn't do because Adrien was at his shoot. It is imperative that these next two days Nathalie do nothing but rest, eat, write and bathe. Each bath will reduce the amount of black ill just as it did with Adrien."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "Adrien...This was the sludge you spoke of?"

"Yes, father," Adrien admitted. "And by the morning after day three, I felt so much lighter and my body didn't hurt for the first time in...a while."

At that, the man flinched visibly and curled his hands into fists. Adrien had been alive for the first time in months and had been hurting before. And the strangest thing was that now Nathalie had not coughed at all in the two hours since the cleansing. In fact, she was nowhere near as pale as before. Was she... Was it possible she was healing?

-

Gabriel stayed with Marinette those next two days alongside Adrien as Nathalie began to look more and more alive. She didn't cough much, if at all. She was healthy beyond compare.

"Is there any way to cleanse the mansion?" Adrien asked one evening and Marinette looked thoughtfully around. 

"Well. If you want, I can show you how to do a simple sweeping ritual but I didn't bring a wicker broom and we aren't supposed to break the circle I've made with the house," Marinette explained with a smile. "We're lucky I had you send away the bodyguards, I worry about the fact that he might need help too, and we still have a great many things beside the cleansing to go over. There is more to magic than these few things I have taught you."

The man listened with great intent and focused on the girl who seemed to know more about magic than any he had ever met. He had thought the Guardian had known magic, but this? This was unlike anything he had ever known and now? Adrien seemed calm and content while Nathalie seemed healed of negativity. Light was in his home and he felt oddly off-put but amazed at this. 

He knew he would have to consult Nooroo, but it would be truly worth it. That there might be something greater than the Miraculous truly shocked him. He had never seen something like Marinette had done. The girl was different from any he knew and her magic beyond imagination.

Perhaps his first judgement had been...wrong...

+

Marinette smiled as she walked with Adrien to school on Monday. Gabriel had agreed to allow Adrien to walk if he so wished and it was a bit of a jaunt, meaning they had to leave early, but neither minded. 

"Nathalie actually had no attacks the entire time!"Adrien was still gushing as they turned a corner. "I've never seen her smile that way. And father even was acting strangely nice!"

"I know it must feel amazing, but don't go getting power hungry," Marinette warned. "A good witch once told me that power is an amazing high, but the greatest witches learn that power can also lead to an amazing downfall. What you give you recieve by threes. Your father is learning as well and Nathalie is, too. Don't be afraid of the possibilities. Fear doing nothing and losing everything."

Adrien gave her a side glance. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

A smile spread on pink lips. "Teaching outside my home? Yep. Giving lessons to people who have such a heavy darkness in their souls? No. But I'm willing to do whatever I can to help you and yours. That's what it means to be a worker of the craft."

"If it harm none let it be done, right?" Adrien quoted with a questioning gaze. At her nod, he grinned. "Good. I'm glad we got this sorted out."

"Me too."

They had just gotten to the school when Alya and Nino came running up, out of breath. "Girl, you gotta break it up!"

Confusion filled the two before they hurried inside and found that the two sides were once again stood to either side of the quad. Marinette's eyes widened because Lila's side, no matter how many, were each holding pentagrams high and shouting, "BURN THE FAKES! REPENT FOR YOU LIES!"

The Wiccan community was simply holding hands and whispering just loud enough to be heard over the shouts due to the sheer amount of people repeating the calming words. "We will not harm. We will not lie. We will not fight. Of this we give. Life is precious..."

Lila came forward in her group, oddly enough wearing a rosary decorated by a large pentagram while holding her hands together before her. "Please, understand!" she called as her followers stopped in their shouts so she could speak. "You are following the wrong sort of witch! A lying, coniving sort that uses the craft as an excuse to have her way with others! As a Grand Witch myself, I can swear to you that this is the truth!"

Marinette frowned and Adrien grumbled under his breath. "Adrien," the dark haired girl spoke and Adrien turned to her. "Are you still wanting to take the highroad now that you know my truths?"

He froze. She knew the cogs in his head were turning as he remembered the words he himself had spoke in question and her in confirmation. He slowly relaxed and shook his head. "You would never harm someone. Especially if it comes back times three."

"Now that you understand this, are you willing to go through with a plan of my own?"

Adrien nodded. Looking to Alya and Nino, the pair nodded as well.

Marinette reached into her pocket and pulled a small bottle from its depths and headed for the center of the quad, between the two feuding groups. "Lila! I challenge you!" she called out and all noise stopped. "A small duel. One spell each. Strongest ones we know that cause immediate change or creation!"

Lila frowned before saying, "Alright. But don't regret it when you lose your standing as a Grand Witch, Marinette. Not that you really are a Grand Witch. You've been lying this whole time."

"Let the magic speak for itself. Here and now," Marinette spoke up. "No playing, no tricks. Just one spell."

"I-I need time to prepare!" Lila tried to escape with the excuse. "Spells take time!"

"A Grand Witch is always prepared!" Marinette called her out. "So what will it be? Or are you going to run?"

Lila was gritting her teeth and she was scowling so sharply it must hurt. "Fine. But like I said, don't feel too sorry when I prove you wrong. And just because I am feeling generous, you can go first. Grand Green Witch, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

A small knowing smile came to Marinette's lips and she lifted the bottle to her lips with a whisper before throwing it to the ground and a blue glittering light swam around her, leaving her visible even as her clothing began to change, forming a white glittering dress with layers varying in shades of pink to her knees while her shoes became a simple pair of white heels with small butterflies that flew around her before landing to rest on her ankles. More small bugs, ranging from beatles to ladybugs to moths and even bees landed among the many different colored butterflies. When they landed, their bodies seemed to fuse with the layers and Marinette tilted her head as she blew a kiss at Lila.

Transformative magic. It was one of the strongest any of them had ever seen. Marinette's friends were smiling and approving of her motions. Lila's group was in awe before some girl in the back shouted, "Lila can do something better! Prove she's a fake, our queen!"

More shouts of encouragement came but Lila was pale and looked scared. She was sweating visibly and her eyes were wide as saucer plates. Without warning, she lifted her hands and grabbed the rosary and began to chant. A soft light enveloped her but it was what happened next that blew everyone away. Because at that same moment, she became an Akuma.

No magic, no warning butterfly.

In her place stood the legendary fake Volpina. She was glaring at Marinette before she launched forward with her claws out. "YOU LITTLE FRAUD! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME LOOK A FOOL!?" she screamed and Marinette's eyes widened before throwing an arm up to take the brunt of the hit.

"Mari!"

Marinette's eyes flashed before all her bugs began to spin off her newly formed dress and shoved Volpina away. "Wanna play, little fox tail? Fine, but your fight won't be with me!" she shouted before rushing from the quad along with everyone else in varying directions. Marinette soon vanished into the crowd but Volpina's screams could be heard from behind her.

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so the two stones used in the circle are called Smokey Quartz and Black Tourmaline. It seems like a strange combination until you look at the healing capabilities of both. Smokey Quartz is good for converting negative energy into positive, helping to set the scene for what is to come. The Black Tourmaline protects and grounds while helping to heal. The stones in the previous chapter were Purple Fluorite, which helps not only to ground but also to heal. Marinette didn't know what she was facing and used it as a base just so she could get a feel for the facts. She was not expecting Adrien to suddenly starts practically bleeding ooze. Better prepared, she used the Quartz and Tourmaline this time around, Adrien only knowing because he actually did some decent research (smart boy is smart).
> 
> Marinette didn't push like she normally does and what isn't mentioned is that when she forms a circle within a home, she basically seals out the world for a set period of time. Her limit is two and a half days, equaling out to three nights. This isn't uncommon and keeps outside forces from WANTING to come inside. It's kind of based on an idea from old wives tales that witches used to keep intruders from coming into their spaces by influencing their thoughts. For instance, if the bodyguards or anyone else had come by, they would reach the door, believe they suddenly had something important to do, then turn away and go do that instead of enteringwithout questioning why it was so much more important.
> 
> Now onto the question, what is the Black Sludge, how did Lila summon and Akuma without a butterfly, and just what is going to happen next?


	3. 3 - Strange Windlings and Unspoken Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila's lies are still pushed as she is purified but not in the usual way. Gabriel Agreste learns that sometimes a mother's advice is easier answered than tuned out. And Adrien likes shiny things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all those that like the story thus far! It's only a few chapter now, but I'm hoping to spread and build onto this world I've built. A lot of questions were asked over the past week and I've tried to answer some of them. Check the info below for further info!

3 - Strange Windlings and Unspoken Trust

Marinette slid into a room marked by one of the hidden runes in the school. When she first started there one year ago, she remembered how she had seen the marks but everything was so hushed about it. Lila didn't know of the marks and neither did those who were new to the school or from out of town. The little part of Paris where magic resided in plain sight but was so thoroughly hidden where anyone cared to look if no one did, meant Lila would be blind to the mark and this was Marinette's opportunity.

Tikki flew out and readied herself from the look of it and Marinette smiled. "Ready?" she teased and the Kwami grinned before Marinette called out, "Spots on!"

Volpina was found outside, shouting and throwing illusions around so fast it confused people, as she probably knew it would. But Ladybug was smirking as she twisted her yoyo and dispelled all of the illusions. For someone with such a creative ability, they certainly weren't useful. Volpina turned, her eyes wide before she grit her teeth and glared. "YOU! I'll end you and then I'll end DUPAIN-CHENG!" she screamed, confusing Ladybug.

"Don't you want my Miraculous?" Ladybug asked, hopping out of the way of a punch then cartwheeling to the side of a kick. "Isn't that what Hawkmoth is after?"

"Who cares what that dirty old perv wants!?" Volpina shouted, trying to slide into Ladybug's space. "I need you gone! You're in my way!"

Shock ran through Ladybug in realization. This wasn't like anything she had fought before. This Volpina was not the same as the one she had fought before. Stranger yet, Volpina was oddly weaker than before. She didn't have the same strength, the same sort of drive. Was this a new trick? But then again, Lila had not formed into Volpina through purple bubbles of magic. No, she had appeared in a...Oh no...

"JUST DIE ALREADY!"

Looking on Volpina's form desperately, Ladybug tried to dispel the fear in her heart. There must have been an Akumatized item. Was it her clothes? Was it the flute? She literally had nothing to show from her original Volpina form. No necklace to be seen. In fact, the only thing she was holding or had on her person was the skintight suit, ears and flute. But the flute had appeared afterward. Made from thin air and the same darkness that Ladybug remembered seeing drip down two drains.

Chat Noir had appeared by this point and Ladybug frowned before shouting for him to come to her quickly. When he neared, she tugged him in close. "This is not like a normal Akuma. Look at her. Is she even an Akuma?"

He looked over Volpina with the same keen eye Ladybug had before he froze. "She didn't appear in purple..."

"No," Ladybug confirmed. "I saw it first hand. She's using dark magic. How do you heal such a thing without harming someone? I don't think I..."

Biting his lip, Chat looked around seeing as Volpina was looking for them as they hid behind a wall. Suddenly, he blinked when he saw some chalk. He looked to Ladybug sharply. "Hey, do you know the story behind the current feud going on inside this school?"

Ladybug blinked before her own eyes landed on the chalk. Blue widening, Ladybug looked to him quickly. "Come on!"

It was a tagteam beat down and soon, Volpina was tied down in the middle of a circle. Ladybug bit her lip before looking to Chat. "The voice...It says it cannot help her without her trust of us."

Chat frowned and tilted her head. "The voice?"

"It is the gift of the Mother Goddess," Ladybug explained with a frown as she looked down at the writhing Volpina. "When the person needing to be healed is brought into the center of a circle, usually a home or some sorts, and allows the healer to know if it is truly okay to heal them because the person is given the option to decline or stop any treatment. Volpina...Lila Rossi...does not want to be healed. I don't know what to do! I don't think there has been a denial to the Mother's request in eons because she only picks-!"

"Whoa, whoa, stop. Relax and think," Chat spoke, flustered from the sound of it but also seemed to be thinking hard. "What could we do? What can be done without destroying the trust brought by the goddess?"

"Only moon water mixed with angel tears," Ladybug explained with a frown as Volpina snarled at them and tried again to break free of Ladybug's yoyo strings, which weren't giving in at all. And because of the dominant circle beneath her, Volpina could spit all she want but she was going nowhere. "It has the powers of three divine beings if left in the sun for three days."

Chat blinked. "Angel tears?"

"Rain that came from a thunderstorm caught in a special sort of secial glass pitcher. It's practically the equivalent to holy water," Ladybug explained quickly. "I think I might know where some is. Stay here with her!"

-

Ladybug collected a jug from Marinette's balcony and rushed through the city to the circle holding Volpina. Chat had cleared the area completely, making sure that no one was anywhere near the fake fox girl. "Chat! I need a hand!" Ladybug called and they hurried to level the jug just outside the circle. "Oh goddess I call! Of Venus give this water the energy to heal this poor soul! And Apollo! Please bless this water born of angels and your brother Zeus's power! Give it sunlight so that it might heal this poor possessed soul!"

Chat stared before hefting the jug with Ladybug up and over the squirming and screaming Volpina. The minute it hit, the girl began to shriek with pain, no anger left. It shocked both of the heroes as they stepped back and their eyes widened as black sludge began to pour off the girl and slowly turn white as it spread out on the blacktop among the cracks of sorts. 

"What is going on?" Ladybug whispered, looking around as the once-black-now-white was forming into little white flowers made similarly to lilies. "What the heck?"

"Hey, isn't there a story about where darkness resides, the moon lilies grow brightest?" Chat asked, kneeling beside the slowly blooming puddles of white. "It is moon water after all. And add that with the power of creation through Venus and the life given via the sun..."

Ladybug looked shocked before her gaze turned to the now silent and curled up Lila, who was staring at her wide eyed. Frowning, the heroine neared and knelt beside the outside of the circle just before breaking it. "Where did you get this goo, Rossi?"

Lila was wide eyed and appeared to be playing innocent. "What are you talking about? Wasn't I Akumatized? How did I get here? Why am I tied up? What are those flowers? What is all this?"

Sighing, Ladybug looked to Chat. "She's no help."

"Let's just collect the flowers then untie her. We can't leave these here." 

The heroine nodded. "I know someone who can take them. I'm sure you know her considering she's a Grand Green Witch."

Chat nodded and passed the flowers to her. "Yeah, Marinette is a good choice. You get these to her after we untangle our little friend."

Lila blinked owlishly up at him before scowling. "Ugh, must you call me that?"

"No better than Chloe Bourgeious," Chat sighed before finishing collecting the flowers and helping Ladybug by lifting the girl clear off her feet and spinning her sharply as the ties came undone easily. Once done, Chat set a dizzy Lila down. "I'll go check on the civilians and get Miss Rossi here back to the class. I don't know where everyone went but hopefully most of them will be together."

"Alright, I'll deliver these to Marinette's balcony," Ladybug excused. "By the way," she spoke with a grin and held up her fist. "Might not have been a proper Akuma..."

"...But I think she counts, too, Milady," Chat agreed and gently bumped her fist with his own.

"Pound it!"

+

Gabriel sighed as he sat in his study, feeling oddly off and troubled. Seeing Adrien so full of light and now Nathalie as well, it really surprised him how even with the powers of Nooroo beside him, he still felt weak. Was this anything like how those two he considered his closest in regards to family felt?

"Sir?" Nathalie's voice spoke up with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine, Nathalie," Gabriel tried to excuse but he felt oddly more heavy than ever. It was as if with new knowledge came new problems. "Nathalie."

"Yes, sir?"

"I want you to invite Miss Dupain-Cheng to dinner tonight. And make sure Adrien is on time."

At this, Nathalie paused and stared at him. He didn't blame her. It had only been a day since Marinette had been at the mansion. And to have dinner with Adrien again so soon? He mentally winced, not realizing his own face showed it. "Sir, are you sure you are okay?"

Gabriel sighed and rubbed at his nose, pressing his glasses up before he shook his head and removed them completely. "I am just...tired."

"Can you hear her?"

Confusion filled Gabriel and he looked up. "What?"

Nathalie shook her head. "Nothing. I have to clear yours and Adrien's schedules. Tell me if you hear anything," she said simply before turning to leave the room.

"Wait," Gabriel called out and the woman stopped but did not look at him. "What am I waiting to hear?"

"You obviously don't feel well," Nathalie spoke without turning. "Unspoken trust is needed to be healed."

With that she left and Gabriel frowned in thought. Unspoken trust?

+

Marinette hurried to the Agreste Manor, once again pulling along her little buggy as if her life depended on it. She was early as it was, considering it was after school, she had finished her homework early, then grabbed her selection of stones for her lesson with Adrien and hopefully to help him find some he might be able to use from her own collection. If he couldn't find anything then they'd probably have to go to a workshop and choose some from there, but Marinette was always worried about this and some of her own stones were what she calls 'rescues' from an old workshop before it was shut down. It had taken her three weeks to purify the stones and it was something she was well known for. Unlike most witches, who found stones that called out to them naturally, not that she didn't do that, she often found ones that no one would touch and set to carefully healing their energies. 

Her hopes were that Adrien would be able to have a similar experience to her and not judge a crystal by its first emotions.

Upon reaching the mansion however, she paused because she could feel something... negative...coming from inside. It was similar to Adrien and Nathalie and the darkness that had been within Lila, but this time, it seemed stronger, more fierce and like a putrid stink in the air. Within her purse, Tikki poked her head out with a frown. "Marinette, do you smell that?"

"It isn't physically visible," Marinette murmured and input the code that Nathalie had given her before she entered and closed the gate behind her. "And I don't sense the Goddess. Whatever that is, there is no trust yet. Something or someone must really be suffering within and have yet to hear her call."

"Marinette, I have a question," Tikki spoke up as Marinette walked slowly to the doors, the girl's bluebell eyes looking around with anxiety echoing behind them. "How do you know when to heal someone? And shouldn't they ask first?"

Marinette frowned deeply before explaining. "Tikki, you know the story of the three goddesses, correct?"

A thoughtful look overcame Tikki. "Yes. The Maiden Borne, the Crone and...um..."

"And the mother," Marinette finished with a clipped tone. She was worried about whatever or whoever was suffering inside. "She is the one who looks after all those that are cursed or have to be healed. It is through her that it allows us, witches, to heal and correct darkness found in those that are in pain or are cursed. But through her, the river is also blocked for she would never allow others to be hurt. It's unspoken trust."

"Like consent?"

Nodding, the girl headed up to the door and knocked. The door opened to reveal Nathalie, who smiled softly when she saw Marinette. She looked a little worse for wear but definitely not the one hurting. "Hello, Marinette," the woman greeted before looking behind her at the buggy. "Do you require assistance?"

"Oh, no," Marinette assured with a smile. "Can't have too many hands touching what I brought today. Adrien will need to sort through it and see what calls to him. Speaking of which, may I go to his room and drop these off? You and Gabriel may come as well but like I said..." Marinette trailed off as a feeling like cold water ran down her spine. "Who is it?" she asked, feeling as the call of the mother reached out to her.

Nathalie bit her lip. "I...It's Mister Agreste. He...He looks bad as well. I remember that look in the mirror but he has been in denial all day. I...I tried to make it easier on him. I tried to explain that 'she' would call out to him and then alert you if it was okay."

Of course though. Nathalie didn't know who 'she' was. No person who was able to hear the mother's call ever truly knew because she kept herself sequestered. Protect and be protected.

"I remember when you told me I would be Adrien's first task," Nathalie whispered as she led Marinette with her bags up to Adrien's room. "I thought at first that it was a threat of sorts, but then I heard her and you asked me yourself. And Adrien said that when he went through his own, he was rather out of it but after hearing 'her' he felt safe and gave you 'unspoken trust'," the woman explained. "However, I wonder if Mister Agreste understands...?"

"If he doesn't, I will explain what little I can," Marinette spoke softly as she moved around the pile of bags in her arms. "It's like Unspoken Trust. You can't speak it or it's considered a method of 'control'. Like persuasion without necessity. One should never feel forced to do something. But he can still know that there are options beyond his suffering."

Nathalie nodded before opening Adrien's door and letting Marinette in. "Where is best for those things?"

Looking around, Marinette noticed the table near the couch had been cleared. Perfect. "Over here," the witch instructed and neared it carefully. She didn't want to disturb the air too much. Something lived here with Adrien and yet...it felt a lot like Tikki, but darker though not evil? Hm...

"Dinner is going to begin once Adrien gets home from his fencing practice and that should end soon," Nathalie spoke as she watched Marinette spread the items inside the bags out onto the table. "Are those like the ones you used to heal me?"

"Yes," Marinette spoke with a smile. "I brought several of each stone so hopefully Adrien will be able to make a decision. Then there is also the fact of the clusters I brought. I'm hoping he finds them soothing."

After all the pieces were spread and the table was literally covered in crystals of sorts or basic tumbled stones, the two headed from the room to speak with Gabriel before continuing further. The sooner the man knew his options, the better. It wasn't often that Marinette explained this. And the mere thought put a rock in the pit of her stomach.

Finding the man was not difficult. Marinette could have found him herself from the mere stink coming from his location. It was the stench of a soul rotting. What was worse was that she could smell the same denial that had come off of Volpina in the air. Nathalie looked to Marinette with worried eyes and the witch shook her head. 

The woman visibly wilted. "Maybe if you explain...?"

"I...I have had to emergency heal only once," Marinette spoke softly. "And it was more of an excorcism. I don't like doing those because it calls upon the Crone. And she does not like to be asked these things."

Nathalie looked hurt beyond measure but seemed to succumb to the sadness. Marinette reached out and touched the woman's arm. "I'm sorry, Marinette."

"Don't become too worried," Marinette assured, looking to the door that separated them from Gabriel. "Be more so about the man you care for."

At this, Nathalie smiled before frowning and turning as Marinette had. "Yes."

+

Gabriel rubbed at his head, hearing a strange noise like a buzzing in his head. He kept shoving it away, trying to ignore it. It wasn't everyday this happened. Only recently. After a year of being Hawkmoth, he had found that the pains were growing more frequent, but since meeting Marinette they seemed to have manifested more so. Would Marinette possibly help or was her being here the very cause of this pain?

"Sir," Nathalie called from the door. "Marinette is here."

He looked up, frowning as he watched the young witch enter. Where he was thinking rather dark things and listening to the buzz in his head, she looked troubled by something herself. "Marinette..."

"Gabriel," the witch whispered and neared to stand in front of the desk he sat at. "You are fighting against it."

Brows furrowing, Gabriel rubbed at his nose. "I...I just have a headache is all."

"No, you must open up," Marinette assured, leaning forward while bracing her hands on the desk. "You do not need to agree to anything. But please stop pushing the mother away."

"Mother?" Gabriel whispered before closing his eyes and thinking it over. "Alright."

With that, he stopped pushing at the buzz and it soon became a song. Confusion filled him, both within the song and within himself. The woman singing sounded hurt and worried, but so very confused as to why he didn't want to hear her.

Because he was scared, he reasoned.

She assured him that fear was a normal response, her song becoming a gentle croon in his ears. The song took on a questioning tone. Did he trust the young witch? Did he trust his son?

Trust them? He didn't understand the meaning of that. Why wouldn't he trust his son? And Marinette's help had healed Nathalie enough for the woman to function in a way she used to be unable to. So why not trust Marinette?

Unspoken Trust was a true thing to need, the song reasoned. To trust another with ones life meant more than even he knew. As a mother, she knew what it meant to have consent given. And without it, she would never pressure him into anything. Just as the witch and his son would never force him into a cleansing.

So that was what it was?

Opening his eyes, Gabriel looked to Marinette, who was watching him calmly but with questioning eyes full of worry. If not for that look, he'd have thought that she knew what he had heard. "I...am not well," he spoke up and she smiled with a soft sigh of some form of relief. "She...You know she exists. Why did you simply not ask me for permission to do the cleansing?"

Marinette closed her eyes before looking to him with a smile. "The mother is the only one I can recieve permission from. She is the go between in this world. She asks the permission of the one who needs help and a sort of, Unspoken Trust, is given to the witch if the person agrees. If I cannot gain that trust, that sort of consent, then I will not perform the cleansing. And if it is a dire need and that trust cannot be given, it becomes an excorcism, and I fear that more than anything with people I trust myself."

The man blinked. "What? You...You trust me?"

"Unspoken Trust works both ways," Marinette explained. "I am a Green Witch and I listen to the three goddesses. The basic laws of nature hold one thing. Whatever I do is returned by three. I would never harm someone if it meant it coming down on my own head. But if the reason is dire, I would gladly try to help. As long as I beg the Crone for forgiveness during and after."

Gabriel blinked at her. She trusted him? Yet she did not know him? What sense does this make? Why would she...?

"If you are wondering," she spoke up with a frown, looking to the desk. "I...I trust everyone I feel I can heal or help. There are very few I cannot trust. But even then, if it is a means to heal, I try my hardest to allow my mind to be open to them. Lila Rossi...Is one of those people."

That caught his attention. "Lila Rossi?" That girl he had been using for some time...But she...? "Why?"

Marinette sighed and looked up at him. "Let's just say that there are liars then there are 'liars'. And Lila Rossi is not above blackmail or using her wiles to get her way. She lies and says she knows everyone, people who have power or people who have connections. In fact, she tries using Adrien, but this past week, she hasn't been able to get a hand on him because of me. I wouldn't say it's to protect him myself, it's more that he has been trying to learn more from me to better fight the pains he had before."

"Pains before..." Gabriel sighed, nodding. "I understand. I have even swapped some meals around for him with the hopes that you might help us with this."

"Of course. There are many ways to heal and food is by far one of the easiest," Marinette spoke with a grin. "Yet another reason I don't trust Lila Rossi. She doesn't like that I live in my parents bakery. She thinks I'm a fraud because I 'live off my parents food'."

"Hm, I see," Gabriel chuckled before standing, though he stumbled slightly, the strange darkness inside burning his chest. "Ngh."

Marinette hurried around the desk and gently took his hand. "You are feeling the effects of the ooze. I'm beginning to know what it looks like. And mostly it seems to be affecting everyone in this house. I might need to contact your bodyguards just to check and make sure that everything is fine with them as well. Does anyone else live here that I should know of?"

He fell silent and looked over at Nathalie before sighing. "Yes, but I would prefer you do not ask of them as of yet. Will you trust me with this?"

"Of course," Marinette assured, leading him from the room and down into the main foyer. "All people have a secret of sorts. And I think it best that they stay with those they feel protected by."

Funny, he thought, a witch that actually protected secrets. Most stories he knew, the witches just spilled their secrets to those they trusted with everything.

And she didn't even know he was Hawkmoth. Would that destroy this precious trust? Except maybe if...

"I wish to know...If you can heal even those who cannot speak?"

+

Marinette stood in the garden staring at the woman in the case. Through the glass, she could feel a deep sadness. It echoed out and into the air, spilling further and further until tears bit at her eyes.

The woman in the case was the woman in the paintings. From her blonde hair to the pale, perfect skin. And her clothing...She was Emillie Agreste. No doubts about it.

"She...she is suffering but there is nothing I can do but keep her inside this...to keep her alive."

Looking to the man, Marinette's eyes widened as he collapsed to his knees. It was as though he were praying. But she took a step back when he bowed his head deeply and all but bowed to Marinette. "Gabriel..."

"Please...I have a reason for this. I...I am Hawkmoth. And the reason I need the Miraculous...Is because I thought it was the only way to bring her back."

She froze, feeling the spirits echo around her before she frowned and knelt in front of him, placing a hand on his left shoulder. "Gabriel...I can help try to find a way to help her. But you need to know the repurcussions of what would have happened had you done so with the Miraculous. It is a law that many know as an equivalence. Balance is important in this world. If you were to raise the dead, someone nearest you would die in turn."

Gabriel looked up sharply at her, eyes wide. "Adrien...?"

Marinette bit her lip before shaking her head. "I do not know. Anything is possible. But when someone makes a wish, equivalence is key. If you wish to bring someone back to life for example...then someone of equal value to you will pay the cost for the sake of that life."

Now the man was crying, his eyes wide and his lips in a tght line. His tears were gray in tone, different from usual clear water. The darkness within him was beginning to bleed out. Could this be because of Hawkmoth's influence? The dark power within the corrupted soul before her would explain quite a bit.

"I have a secret too," she whispered and knelt completely, brushing her hair behind her ears. "And I think it is time you stopped this. Emillie...She would be hurt if something happened to Adrien. And no, I am not making a threat, I am telling you a truth," Marinette stated, noticing the way Gabriel looked to her earrings but did not reach for them. "You need to remember how important Adrien is to you...because she," the witch stated, looking over her shoulder at the woman, "How does she feel about him?"

+

Adrien hurried inside the mansion, happy about the fact that his practice got cut short thanks to Nathalie's call. Anything to get away from Kagami. As of late, she had been stifling. Don't get him wrong, she was amazing, but lately...

He shook his head quickly before looking around and sniffing at the air. "That smell..."

Walking to the kitchen, he found Marinette standing at the counter, stirring up some sort of tea. Her other hand was busily twirling through the air and his eyes widened when he saw that the huge soup pot was being stirred once again by a large wooden spoon all on its own! As if sensing him, Marinette gave a hum. "I'm fixing dinner while your father and Nathalie relax. We're having another cleansing this evening."

"But Nathalie was..." Adrien whispered in confusion before his eyes widened. "Father? Is he the one I've been feeling...?"

"Yes," Marinette answered with a thoughtful frown. "I need you to go sit with them and relax. You aren't prepared to start this on your own, so I just need your help building trust."

"Ah, right!" Adrien whispered and closed his eyes. "The connection. I forgot for a moment there."

Marinette smiled. "For a moment with Nathalie, I thought the trust might not work. But that woman trusted me as I trust people when I learn who they are. She gave her Blind Trust to me because she was in so much pain. But your father, he is suffering from something so much deeper than anything I can name. I'm sure, however, you can give her a name?"

Adrien winced before nodding. "Yeah. I can."

"Go be with your father," Marinette instructed. "Then we have a few things to go over after the cleansing. I've already called the school and my home. Madame Bustier has us marked down in the schedules and everything but we're going to need to do extra work. Missing two days at a time is hard enough. You'll be helping me as well."

"Anything for you, Teach!" Adrien laughed with a cocky grin before hurrying to the little living area that was rarely used. He paused in the doorway when he saw his father slightly curled in Nathalie's lap. "Hey, father? Nathalie? Everything is going to be okay," he assured with a smile as he knelt beside the couch. This room was so rarely used it was in pristine condition. No stains or marks...Until he caught sight of a single, white, square table off to the corner that looked remotely out of place.

"For your altar," Gabriel whispered and Adrien's eyes widened before he turned sharply. "Adrien...Son, I...I have many things to tell you that I cannot share right now. But your friend and teacher...Marinette...I want you to know that I support all this," the man spoke softly, his eyes shut as Nathalie kneaded at his head gently. "I will buy you anything you need. Candles, herbs, cloth, twine...Anything."

This confused Adrien but he carefully reached out to take his father's hands and begin rubbing at them. "Father..."

"She's going to save me from myself," Gabriel assured with a smile. "She might not be a god, but that girl...that witch is worth more than gold and power."

While this confused Adrien, he did not say anything, simply letting the emotions settle. If he freaked out it could hurt his father more. Trust...they needed that more than anything.

+

The cleansing of Gabriel Agreste. It was something the man had never once put into consideration. He had lived in this city of light and love for years and yet he had no idea such magic existed. Was it so well hidden? Why when it was obvious that so many believed in it now that he was sitting there in a bathtub, his eyes shut as black tar began to fill the tub.

"Alright. Gonna need to move to the shower as before. I laid down a mat so hopefully I'll be able to keep it from all going down the drain this time," Marinette murmured and just as with Nathalie, formed a circle around Gabriel with Adrien. Their linked arms made him feel oddly safe, even as more and more of the tar left him. Why had Marinette skipped straight to this instead of dumping the moon water over his head?

His answer came sooner than he had thought. Once he was done and had scrubbed himself to the point the tar was turning gray, Marinette led Gabriel back to tub and had him sit inside. She remade the circle and then, just when it became strangely confusing, she warned him and dropped the water over top his head.

It burned and boiled and bubbled on his skin. It hurt in a way he had no idea he could survive and he felt his vision go black a moment before it seemed to clear. When he opened his eyes again, he was laying in the tub, a gentle warmth running over him.

"Gabriel? Are you alright?"

He looked up and saw Marinette near his head as Adrien stood near his left shoulder. "I...I feel alright..." he whispered before his eyes widened. That darkness from before... "It's gone. My head is clear."

Marinette smiled. "That's good to hear. I'm going to help you up now and Adrien is going to help you dry off and dress. Then you are going to do some journalling, alright? It's a key to this."

"Right," Gabriel sighed and moved slowly up, feeling no ache oddly enough in his muscles and his head actually wasn't full of the bad things he was used to hearing. And he didn't sense any bad things either. No need for Akuma, no need for control. He felt free.

Was this what it was like to be sane?

+

Marinette sat with Adrien in his room as Gabriel took a nap on the boy's couch. Nathalie stayed close and watched over them as Marinette explained that the circle was not to be broken. Each and every thing that Adrien would need to know, Nathalie listened along. It warmed Marinette inside to se others outside her student wanting to learn more.

So, when Nathalie asked why she, a woman who had lived in Paris her whole life, had never heard of the magic community. And she even apologized for such a forward question.

"Well, I've lived here my whole life as well," Marinette chuckled as Adrien seemed to be trying to feel something out in an amethyst cluster set. "In truth, magic was a bit of a dream growing up. I was told not to directly speak of it. But the two schools I've been to are full of hidden gems. Like runes that mark safe places and territories. However, most don't believe in the magic that we, such as my family and I, possess. We lay in open sight yet not a single Parisian person can truly say that magic is real. Sometimes I don't believe it and just look at me! Or the Miraculous. How can magic not exist? The arrival of Chat Noir and Ladybug has caused an uproar in my community as well as the mundanes. Normal humans can learn magic, are capable of being given power good and bad. But what logic is that? What is good and what is bad? Some have told me in the past that good and bad are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other."

"Like the cat and ladybug Miraculous?" Nathalie asked softly as Adrien smiled and tugged a particularly large amethyst over to him. "Did you pick that for its energy or because it's pretty, Adrien?"

The boy looked up with wide, kittenish eyes. "But it's pretty and feels right!"

Both witch and woman sighed before both of them smiled at each other. Here they were having a serious conversation and Adrien was acting like a kitten with new toys.

Marinette looked around at the small pile Adrien had going based on colors, size and type. It was shocking how gently someone so new to this could already love the beautiful building blocks of the world.

But a thought warned her to be careful, even as she watched Adrien sort through some Tiger's Eyes and try to find ones that called for him. 

Lila had activated an Akuma earlier that was not Gabriel's doing. Both Nathalie and the man admitted they had been out of commission due to the black blight that had taken over any chance of Hawkmoth appearing within the scene. And all of the black...tar...that Gabriel had exuded had been carefully bottled up in clear bottles made of a special form of quartz. It was both undeniably fearful and undeniably amazing. Whatever this was, when touched by pearl moon water, created beautiful white flowers. They weren't like the moon lilies and the angel tears didn't change the tar as before. Instead it turned clear and then formed the flowers as if in a secondary function.

Whatever this black goop was, Lila had gotten ahold of some form of it. This was worrying. Far more than when she was cleansing Gabriel.

Could Lila have a connection to the Black Magic that was plagueing the Agreste Household? Even being around them for stretches of time didn't do much, just living with them did. And the man who lay asleep and resting, had said he had called off Lila immediately after Nathalie's cleansing. So how could someone, who had no idea what true magic was, get ahold of something so dark and sinister?

Marinette sighed as she picked up a small clear quartz and walked to the man on the couch to gentle press it to the temple of his forehead. "Hm...So many things to think about..."

"Hey, Mari! Look at this one! It looks like an inside out geode! And it calls to me!"

"Adrien, that thing is shiny and that is the only reason you want it."

"But Nathalie-SHINY!??"

A soft smile came to Marinette's lips as she shook her head. Okay. That was enough thinking of that kind for right now. So many cleansings in such a short amount of time was tiring. Marinette could feel the pain of all those she had helped, all three of the very people in this room, echoing inside her chest. She just prayed that when the time came, she would not feel as they had for their cleansings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAH! This took forever! I've been working hard to answer as many questions as possible but left some in the dark on purpose. ;P Can't get all the answers out, now can we? What sort of story would that make? And before anyone asks, I think this form of consent is more malleable than the normal human idea of acceptance. Marinette is a witch, a Green Witch at that, who is tied to many elements and the cosmos (I'll leave that for you to think over), and therefore feels a backlash of some form should anything happen that goes against the will of one of the three Moon Goddesses. The Mother Goddess watches over all and thus if the person accepts her whim and question, then Marinette feels the power of that whim. 
> 
> In turn, Lila or Volpina neither believed or wanted to be cleansed or healed. What Ladybug did in that moment was take a chance that most priests don't deign to think of when they are exorcising someone. Do those who are possessed give permission after all? So why don't these priests who do this without receiving a form of consent from either their god or the person feel backlash?
> 
> The answer? THEY DO. In the past, exorcisms have been known to not only kill the person on the receiving end but also the priest sometime down the road. It's called 'Equivalence' and similar to the idea from Fullmetal Alchemist but is not fully true to the anime. Because this is not Fullmetal so hush.
> 
> By the laws of the universe, when one thing is denied, punished, healed or revived, something of equal value is done in turn. Someone is denied a home, someone gets a home. Someone is killed in battle, a child is born. Someone heals a wounded person, someone within that person's circle is hurt. Someone is brought back to life, someone dear to the person dies. 
> 
> One might call it Karma and others who watch a hecksalotta anime like me call it Hitsuzen. What will happen will happen. Nothing can change that. Except, perhaps, a certain amount of good luck and bad luck mixed together. If anyone can guess where I'm going with this, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!


	4. School Resumes but as do the Lies P1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things were starting to look better for them all. Marinette truly believes that. But there's a distant nagging. And Lila just isn't one to pass on opportunities to try to make Marinette look bad, even when they come back to bite her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all those reading this! I love feedback so if you have anything to say, please tell me! Your comments help to inspire me further! And I'm sorry for the late update. A lot of stuff's been happening. Uh, home-stuff? It's a bit complicated.
> 
> Okay, so a little forewarning, Lila is feeling spited and her actions are slowly growing more frantic the more attention Adrien gives Marinette. And to top that off, Marinette is suddenly the one that people look to instead of Lila. Attempts are made, you have been warned.

4 - School Resumes but as Do the Lies Part 1

Marinette and Adrien walked down the way to Francois Dupont. Gabriel had once again agreed to not forcing Adrien into a car to get to school. Something about, "You can't gain trust with a third party in the middle, right?"

For Adrien, this was amazing. His father never let him leave without a bodyguard or Nathalie. This could be a sign! Was his father actually healing?

"Adrien," Marinette spoke up with a smile. "I was thinking of going to a swap this weekend. They sometimes sell precious gems and crystals there. Would you be interested?"

Oh, Marinette, how little you know! "Of course I'd be interested! I just need to talk to father and get his permission. That sounds great and like a wonderful learning experience!"

A giggle left the girl before she turned and looked up to look at the school as they arrived. "I'm having fun being your teacher. It isn't everyday you get to walk with THE Adrien Agreste to school," she joked with a smile thrown his way.

Blushing, Adrien tilted his head away from her. All of the cleansings that he had done and actually had done to him included her. And somehow this seemed to be connecting them. It made him feel amazing. Plagg had been oddly quiet and didn't mind when all of his little family climbed into Adrien's bed with their own blankets during the Cleansing's final night. Something about sharing a bed with Marinette really was crazy because even if they weren't sharing it alone.

He hadn't been Chat Noir since the incident with the strange Volpina, and yet there had not been any other Akuma. It was a strange thing to say the least and he feared that Plagg was going to take the ring and run. He had to remind himself that Master Fuu was no longer the Keeper of the Miraculous and that the role had been passed onto Ladybug, even though the Miraculous were missing.

Add that with the fact of Kagami...Oh crap, Kagami. She was being incredibly possessive and it worried him somehow the way she had reacted that day during the cut practice.

-Flashback-

"Why do you have to go home early, Adrien?" Kagami asked, her brows furrowed and her eyes sharp like knives. "You're my greatest competition and also my boyfriend. Why would your father pull you out so early when he knows you are spending time with your future wife?"

Wife? "I'm sorry Kagami," Adrien tried to excuse. "I'm just learning something and need to head home because of a family emergency. Besides, father is having dinner with me again. I can't possibly miss that!"

"Still, your father should be more considerate," Kagami grumbled, crossing her arms as she watched Adrien fiddle with his bag. "This time spent here on the fencing grounds take up most our time anymore. And you act as if there are things more important than us. Besides, what could you possibly be learning now that it takes up so much of your time?"

"Uh...I don't know if I can tell you that, but you can ask Mari. She's my teacher."

Kagami paused before tilting her head as she walked with Adrien to the doors of the school. Being she didn't have a partner at the moment, Adrien didn't blame her. "Mari? You mean Marinette is your teacher? What is she teaching you? Adrien, I don't like this. I know she's our friend, but why would she be teaching you something when she's our age?"

"Uhhh..."

"Fine," Kagami said through gritted teeth. Adrien could feel the anger pulsing off her. "I'll ask her the next time I see her. And I expect answers."

He watched her stalk off, which was odd in and of itself considering she hadn't spoke like that in weeks, let alone act like she was superior. Something was up.

-Flashback end-

"Adrien, what's wrong?"

The blonde model blinked before looking to Marinette, who was watching him with questioning eyes. They were in front of the school steps now. "Oh, it's nothing. Sorry."

Marinette smiled and tilted her head. "It's okay. Come on."

Upon entering, it was obvious that the school was integrated again enough that there was no sign of the silent feud that had been happening the past while. Whatever changed that, they didn't know but they didn't mind and waved to others when they were smiled at or waved to. No chalk was on the ground, no salt or marks. It was a good sign to Adrien and he followed Marinette to their lockers where they swapped out their things before meeting back up to head to class.

When they arrived, Nino and Alya were grinning as they sat side by side in the seat near the back beside where Marinette would sit normally now due to Lila. Taking the hint, Adrien grinned at the blushing but smiling witch before they headed up to the seat and sat down, Marinette on the right, him on the left.

As the class filed in and saw where the four now sat, they hurried to sit where they wanted to as well and soon enough the class was sitting in new seats and were already passing around a seating chart as Madame Bustier hurried to mark them down in her notes and make sure they were where they wanted to be. She was smiling in some form of triumph.

Wonder what that's about, Adrien thought as he filled in his name beside Marinette's before handing it off to Alya and Nino. It was tiring always moving seats, but this time they weren't moving and even Chloe down in the front with Sabrina seemed happy with their positions for some strange reason. In fact, she had not tried to grab him or stake a claim in a couple weeks. What could that mean?

Then she walked in.

Right as the bell rang, in came Lila. She was crying and holding something to her chest. At first Adrien felt a rush of natural worry. Marinette had explained that every witch should feel that emotion toward someone when they see such emotions. But then he saw that Lila's eyes were not red and she seemed to be forcing the false tears and hiccups.

"What's wrong, Lila?" Madame Bustier asked in worry, moving around to near her crying student. "What happened?"

"I-I know she didn't mean to! She was just angry about something!" Lila sobbed, rubbing at her eyes and held out the object in her only free hand. "I don't kn-know what I did but..."

Confusion filled Adrien and he shared a look with Marinette before both of them looked to the front.

"Marinette broke my phone. She...She just looked so angry this morning when I saw her! It's why I'm so late!"

Now Adrien was getting mad. Seriously? Adrien had been with Marinette all morning! How could Lila think such a lie was possible!? "I can vouch that Marinette was nowhere near you, Lila," Adrien said, standing sharply with a frown. No one was going to attack Marinette this time if he could help it. He was done with the High Road.

Lila looked up at him with a sad expression. "Adrien, you don't need to stand up for her. She...She keeps trying to come between us. I just don't understan-Wait..." she looked around in confusion of her own, a sort of horror on her face as she realized the seating had been changed again. "I thought you were-But you were supposed to-Why are you back there with HER!?" she choked out.

Adrien raised a brow and waved his hands slightly before him. "Lila. Everyone moved around. It's a new seating chart."

"B-but I need you down here with me!" Lila tried, seemingly forgetting the phone she had been so hard to build a story around. "Is she forcing you? She told me but I...I didn't want to believe... that she would actually..." the girl sighed and clasped a hand at her chest before looking to Madame Bustier and the destroyed phone. "Madame, I have a confession to make and I think it's important that the class hear it."

Oh boy, here we go, Adrien thought to himself. What lie had she come up with aside from the phone?

"Marinette...threatened me when I first arrived back from Achu. She threatened to take all my friends away and she even threatened that she would take anything I love from me. Everything she has ever said is a lie and she feels that I am in her way," the liar stated as if it were true and even rubbed her eyes for effect. Adrien felt his stomach twisting. "She said we are at war."

Wait, what? Adrien stared down at Lila in confusion and anger. Why would she even suggest...?

"She's jealous of me even though all I wanted was to be friends," Lila spoke with a tone that was full of false sorrow. "I keep trying but then this morning...She attacked me out of nowhere and destroyed my phone because I've been texting Adrien."

"Well that is a definite lie," Adrien spoke up with a frown. "Marinette was with me all morning and last night and the day before that. And you haven't sent me a single text in that whole time."

"Adrien, you don't have to lie anymore!" Lila spoke with a weak smile. "We can finally be together. Just as you promised."

Now that caught Adrien off guard. She was trying to make it seem like he promised her something? What the heck? "I made no such promise!"

Her eyes flashed. "Your father already said it was okay for us to be together. Isn't that enough?"

Okay, things were getting weird. First she comes in crying, lying about Marinette breaking the phone, then she freaks over the seating, then she says Marinette threatened her, and now she was lying that he had made some sort of promise with her? WHAT? But the one thing that stood out was the fact she threw his father into this. This girl was either on something or her head was just THAT messed up inside.

"Lila, this phone," Madame Bustier spoke with a frown. "It's an older model than the one you normally use. What happened to the newer one?"

"O-oh, I left it at home, lucky me. But I recieved this one from my mom for a birthday a couple years ago. It was precious and I wanted to show that I really was a witch because it has some spells saved to a file like a book. Marinette knew that," Lila whimpered and hugged herself. "I think she's stalking me too! How could she possibly know that?"

Max stood up. "May I see that phone?"

At this, Lila smiled sadly. "I've tried to turn it on but it's so badly dama-!"

"I can still save the data via the data chip inside," Max excused and held out his hand to Madame Bustier. "Unless there is something you don't want me to know. I promise not to share any personal information."

Before Lila could say any more, Max had Marcov out and the pair were pulling it apart to get the said chip. Only thing was...

"Lila, how did you say you got this phone?" the glasses eyed boy asked as he tilted his head and Marcov sat on his shoulder.

"M-my mom gave it to me a couple ye-!"

"This phone has no data chip and no active sim card," Max spoke up with a frown. "It's closer to a burner than anything as well. Madame Bustier, you should confiscate this immediately," he said and passed it to the woman.

Madame Bustier nodded and took the object before turning and placing it in a drawer which locked when shut. "There. Now that all of this is set up, Lila take a seat in the front, Max and Marcov back to your seat. We still have a class to start and we haven't even finished roll call."

Lila looked horrified even as she sat down. She was stiff in her movements and sat down heavily. 

Adrien stared before he sat down and looked to Marinette. The witch was biting her lip as she seemed to be watching Lila with worry. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing for now," Marinette whispered with a frown. "Just...a bad feeling."

A shiver went down Adrien's spine. Whatever that means, he thinks to himself as he turns to prepare for the class, I don't like it.

+

Marinette frowned as she stood in the quad with Adrien, Alya and Nino. It had been a tiring day, Lila continuing to try and do things to prove she knew magic, but it was obvious they were just parlour tricks. Some of the class humored her and listened even though they obviously no longer believed her.

But the Akuma...Lila had summoned darkness to her. Gabriel had not done that. So how did this girl, who had come from Italy, supposedly known about the community of witches here in Paris when they were so heavily integrated and hidden in plain sight? This girl, this liar, has somehow gotten her hands on something deeply dangerous...but what could it be?

"Earth to Mari," came Alya's voice and Marinette looked up in question. "Hey, we were wondering if we could come over and hang for a bit. I really need a break from the twins and mom has today off so win-win!"

"Same here with being free," Nino stated before looking to Adrien. "What about you dude?"

"I'm free!" the blonde model said with a grin. "Oh! But I should call father and tell him before assuming too much," he said, smile dropping a second later. "He's been in a better mood but I don't know..."

Marinette smiled. "I think it'll work out," she assured, patting his left shoulder seeing as it was nearest her. "I honestly do."

The smile she got in return was worth the slight discomfort she felt assuring something even she was unsure of in some ways. She really did believe it. But to just assume? It was wrong to even think that way. Lying however, was not something she liked doing and this was one time she knew she should not lie about, period.

The four spoke for a few more minutes before the warning bell rang. Heading back to class, Marinette was almost to the top when one of her pigtails was suddenly grabbed and she was jerked back. A gasp of surprise left her as she began to fall back down the stairs. Just as she began to think she was going to be hurt, her eyes widened and Adrien was suddenly right there, holding onto her hand and keeping her from falling to a painful fate. 

But his gaze was not on her. Rather, it was on someone behind her. "Lila..." he growled and Marinette felt her stomach twist because that look of anger on Adrien's face resembled only one other person she knew with blonde hair her age.

"Marinette, you should really be more careful!" spoke the object of his anger and Marinette let Adrien pull her up before she looked to the girl behind her. Lila looked oddly smug but worried at the same time. "I worry of what would have happened if Adrien hadn't been there to catch you! You're so clumsy!"

"Says the one who just pulled her pigtail!" Adrien growled, bringing Marinette close to him. "Some witch you are! Don't you know the law of three!? Don't you know what you're doing!? Don't you ever think of your actions!?"

Lila stared at him with a strangely numb expression. It did not look nearly as forced as any Marinette had ever seen. Lila just...Looked like she had finally been outed. And considering the fact of the numerous students whispering and staring wide eyed at her, Lila began to look scared. "W-why are you yelling at me!? I didn't do anything wrong! Marinette is just-!"

"No!" Adrien shouted, hugging Marinette to him and the dark haired witch stared into his chest, able to feel him trembling. Something tugged at her memory. No...at Ladybug's memory. But why? Why did this particular pose and stance bring up some of her memories? "Stop playing the victim! You could have hurt her! I won't let you hurt my Princess!"

Marinette gripped onto Adrien's shirt and stared into the dark cloth. "Adrien?"

"I'm tired of your lies and the ill will you seem to spread! Why can't you just leave Marinette alone!? She's done nothing but bend over backwards to help everyone and you tried to turn them against her! Have you no shame? No sense of morals or emotions toward those that care?"

"I DO care!" Lila gasped at the accusation and even without seeing her face, Marinette knew she was pulling out the crocadile tears. "Aren't you worried of what could have happened to me too? She was a few steps in front of me! If she fell, she would have landed on me! I would have been hurt worse because I would have taken a heavier blow! Don't I matter, too?"

"I SAW YOU STEP TO THE SIDE!" Adrien was shouting, gripping Marinette's form tight to him. Marinette didn't fight and instead held on just as tight. She could feel his anger rising, could feel as he began to shake and she lifted a hand to gently stroke at his hair. His chin touched her hair and he whispered, "Mari?"

"It's okay," she whispered and gently began to pet in a way someone else liked. In a way someone else she and Ladybug trusted would get when their partner was feeling too overwhelmed during patrol. "It's okay. I'm safe. That's all that matters. We're both okay, right? it's okay."

His shakes began to subside as he buried his face in her hair. He took a deep, staggering breath that echoed in his chest and she felt strongly through her own body. "Are you sure, Princess?" he whispered in a broken tone. He sounded so scared.

"Yes, I'm alright," Marinette cooed, continuing to pet Adrien's hair. "Hush, my minou. Don't be afraid. You're alright. We're both safe."

Another tremble before Adrien was just holding onto her. He didn't want to let her go even as she could hear shouts around them. Marinette could feel his heart racing so she kept stroking at his hair and trying to calm him. "I'm sorry, Mari. I...I don't feel..."

"It's okay," she whispered again, gently combing out the knots in his hair then repeating the action even when they were gone. "Just relax. I'm going nowhere fast. I promise."

+

Gabriel frowned as he felt the anger of someone singing through him on a soft timber. It was different from usual, farther away and more controlled. He had Nooroo right on hand, Nathalie with Duusu and all four of them were having tea. Marinette had explained that getting to know their Kwami better might help them.

Duusu seemed oddly emotional about everything, laughing at the oddest things while crying at others. Nathalie had tried to figure out what was going on but had not transformed because of the heavily cursed piece which she still wore but did not activate.

But this... "Nooroo?"

"I feel it too...Gabriel," the butterfly Kwami whispered, staring into the depths of the small cup he was using. "I...You shouldn't listen to it. Those emotions...And the person..."

"What do you wish to do, sir?" Nathalie asked.

The man stayed silent before setting down his cup and closing his eyes as he went over the instructions Marinette had given. Exercise the problem. Do not try to jump at the first feelings and try to work out the emotions. Think of Emillie. Do not think of vengence. Draw power from inside and if all those fail... "We're going down to the garden," Gabriel announced and stood.

Duusu looked ready to cry while Nooroo smiled and Nathalie gave a sigh of what could only be relief. "Yes, sir," all three of them whispered and followed him as he headed down to see his wife.

Seeing her before him, his head cleared. All the voices that plagued him, the usual anger he felt when gazing at her limp form lying on the soft cushion within the case...it all seemed to spread away. Like his butterflies, they vanished like they were healed.

A small smile came to his lips as he neared the case and knelt slowly in front of it so he could gaze up at her. "Hm..." he had so many things he wanted to say to her. Should he write them down? He had never done that before.

"Here," came a whisper and he looked to his right where Nathalie was holding out a pen and the journal they had used when Marinette was doing the cleansing. "Just...Just write and tell your wife all the things you want her to hear."

"Nathalie," he whispered back before she could move away. "Please stay and help me sort out my thoughts. Nooroo, Duusu...You as well."

A smile came to the woman's lips as she settled beside him. "Of course...Gabriel."

+

The day passed by far too quickly for Adrien's liking but as the day came to a draw and Lila left without a word beyond anything even as some of her still followers called out to her in the hall, Adrien could only watch as she left. 

Saying goodbye to Marinette for the night hurt, especially considering she had been with him in some way for nearly two weeks, and yet...

Adrien closed his eyes and simply curled deeper into his blankets. "Hm..." he hummed and tried to relax.

"I can feel you thinking from over here, kid," Plagg grumbled from his stinky cheese pile. "Go and do a mini cleanse or something. Your thoughts are giving me a headache."

"Can you read my mind?" Adrien grumbled right back, hugging the pillow tightly as he tried to relax. "I just...have this bad feeling. Like when I suggested not outing Lila to Marinette before. I had thought that if I just...But the feeling of wrongness and even making that deal with Lila before breaking it off...GAH! I feel so gross!" he groaned and covered his face with his pillow.

Marinette had taught him a way to clear his mind using Amethyst and Clear Quartz. It was a basic thing and even newbies to the craft like him could do this easily. Maybe it really WOULD help if he tried.

Standing from the bed, he flung his pillow at the corner and walked over to the table he had set up in the corner and carefully made a circle. Once in place, he lit the few candles that Marinette had gleefully donated and then he made a Crystal Twist on the carefully made red cloth. Closing his eyes, he began to whisper his wishes and prayers under his breath. Just relax. Calm down. Let the crystals eat up all his anger and unhappiness. 

Thinking of things that made him happy reminded him of Marinette. It used to be Ladybug all the time. But this time, he merely focused on his teacher, guide and friend. Maybe more than that. He trusted her beyond anything. Maybe loved her?

That thought seemed to please the goddesses because suddenly he felt warm and safe, the candles flickering and the crystals glowing before him. Smiling, he adventured with the thought and the lights seemed to grow brighter and flicker like the candles in laughter. 

Was it strange? Finding love where it wasn't supposed to be? Right in front of him?

"Talk some sense to me," he whispered, finishing the thought as the song echoed in his head. The crystals continued to glow and the light seemed to call to him and he fell into it. 

He didn't know how long he was in the circle at his makeshift altar, but it was enough for him to fall asleep. The feeling of a pair of hands gently running through his hair took him away in his dreams and he smiled without opening his eyes. He felt oddly safe.

"Am I ill?" he whispered and a chuckle of laughter came from above him as the familiar hands gently stroked his hair and seemed to calm his turbulent thoughts. This lap wasn't someone he knew outside his dreams. He just didn't dream of her often. "Mom..."

"If you are ill, my little minou," she whispered and brushed his hair back behind his ear, "Then I am in the truly same boat."

"But how do I fix this mess, mom?"

The woman gave a hum and he knew she was smiling even with his eyes closed. "Perhaps the answer is by your side. Always has been even when she thought you had done something wrong. She trusts so easily and the goddesses know her to be a meaning of truths. Maybe you should speak with her and ask her how to fix this."

"Marinette..." he whispered and slowly opened his eyes, her form disappearing as he awoke within his circle. "My princess...She has to know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is part one. And there are a few things I need to clear up. Marinette is feeling Karma coming. Adrien fell asleep in a circle, which should NOT be done. Lila is losing her sanity. Mrs. Agreste is waking up slowly but surely and is able to contact Adrien through the circle he builds in his room (THIS IS IMPORTANT). Plagg and Tikki are about to make a big motion (And by that, their powers send the class into chaos of realization, understanding and apologies). Gabriel and Nathalie are NOT a couple in this, just really good friends. Something has to be done about the Peacock Miraculous. And finally, Nooroo wasn't forced to Akumatize anyone! Yay!
> 
> Part two will have explanations of how the circles work in this world I'm building, why Marinette is feeling the oncoming effects of Karma, and why Mrs. Agreste is able to connect to Adrien through his surprisingly simple circle. Oh and Lila is going to be playing a bit of a big part soon. I'm just building plot by this point. Can't spoil too much, shh!
> 
> Oh and there's probably going to be a reveal so, yay! Again. And might be or might not be tagged because this is going to be one of those, she knew, he didn't things. I mean, let's face it, Adrien practically screams that he's a cat at every turn.


	5. 5 - School Resumes but as do the Lies Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a fact that something is going on with Rossi...But just how bad is this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight warning for the crazy mess below: Lila still has some control, that much is known, but not how. Some answers will be found here and others will still be in the dark.

5 - School Resumes but as do the Lies Part 2

Part of being a witch was learning to cast a circle. Doing such not only kept bad things out, it kept the power safe within. For Marinette, she viewed the circles as a sort of ring and was careful to never fall out of herself while inside a closed circle. It was more for her own sanity than anything but even her maman and several others agreed to her somewhat superstitious views on it. 

But when Adrien came to her first thing the morning after Lila's attack and excitedly began to tell her about meeting his mother after he fell asleep in a circle, she stopped him and asked him to repeat. "I saw her!" he whisper cried, his eyes alight with happiness and his body trembling slightly with energy. It was one of the worrisome things that came with dozing off inside a circle. Energy builds and does not escape properly.

"You fell asleep in your circle and saw your mother?" Marinette asked for clarification before sighing at his excited nodding. "Alright. You need to calm down a bit. It is an amazing thing to connect with her, but honestly, you shouldn't have slept in the circle. It's incredibly dangerous."

Adrien looked heartbroken and asked, "But how will I see her again? Maybe sleeping in the circle allowed me to meet her!"

The witch and teacher raised her hands and gently pulled Adrien to her in a hug. "I know. But next time, please tell me or Nathalie or even your father. Have someone with you with a circle breaking sigil. I can give you a few so that you can see her again but you can't do this alone. It's dangerous!"

"I wasn't alone," Adrien whispered to her, holding onto her waist as he buried his nose in the crook of her neck and she could hear his whispers as he began to speak. "I...There was a god in the room. Someone small and black and furry."

Bluebell eyes widened and Marinette stared at the wall above them. "You..."

"I am him," he whispered and pulled away slowly, looking her in the eyes. "I am Chat Noir, Princess. I'm sorry I hid it from you."

"Oh Minou, I knew it!" she gasped and leapt at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as he caught her. "I knew it was you! I knew it!"

"Marinette?" Adrien whispered in confusion. Then his eyes widened as he realized the nickname she had used and she knew the exact moment he did as his arms tightened around her. "My Lady!"

-

"So sleeping in circles without supervision can be dangerous?" Adrien asked as he sat with Marinette in his new seat at the back of the classroom with Alya and Nino bickering over something to their left. "I don't understand though. Why?"

"Circles are by far the best way to connect to powers outside our control," Marinette explained, making a simple circle with five gems and some chalk she pulled from her bag before carefully marking up the wood of the desk. "With that power comes a great responsibility. Think Spiderman when you want to recall this. All the power in the world is at your fingertips when you set a circle. This one? I can use it simply to hone in and calm your energy, which we're going to do now. Repeat the following phrase three times aloud and as you do so, try to focus on calming your breathing. I am whole, I am free, I release the power within and seek a silence within to match."

Adrien did as told and a soft gray toned light slowly shifted through the air and down into the circle of crystal and chalk. By the time he was done, the stones were gently pulsing and the chalk was faded while Adrien had calmed considerably. 

"Better?"

He nodded and closed his eyes. "I didn't think I could have the much energy inside me. I feel normal enough now but before...Was that the energy brought on by the circle I slept in?"

"YOU WHAT!?" came a choked set of gasps and both of them turned to see Nathaniel standing there near his seat while Alya and Nino were staring at Adrien. All three were wide eyed. "Adrien, that's dangerous!" Nathaniel hissed, glancing around before sitting down in his seat in front of them. "Sleeping in circles calls upon outside forces and they can drag someone under so deep that they never wake up!"

"N-no wonder y-you were worried," Adrien stuttered before staring at his teacher. Marinette smiled and shook her head. 

"You didn't know. From now on, constant supervision by a sigil breaker, okay?"

"Yes, princess," Adrien mumbled, his face pale as Madame Bustier entered and not two minutes later came Lila right as the bell rang.

+

Adrien frowned as he watched Lila slide into her seat, looking disgruntled over something on her usual phone instead of the burner from before. What was she up to? He was practically expecting the theatrical gasp of happiness as her phone rang and she answered quickly. "Ladybug!" she stage whispered, making everyone look to her. "It's school hours! Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Lila, class is about to begin," Madame Bustier spoke with a frown. "Phones away."

"I'm sorry, Bug," Lila sighed again. "I gotta go. Ciao!" she laughed and hung up. She seemed proud of herself as she put away her phone. "Sorry Madame. Ladybug was on patrol and was worried about me. You know, because she's my best friend and all."

If he wasn't angry before, he was now. Beside him, he felt tiny paws on his hand and when he looked down, he saw Marinette's small pouch-purse open and Tikki peeking out enough for him to see as she rubbed at his fingers in assurance. Ladybug was beside him. He reminded himself of this and closed his eyes even as everyone seemed excited and chattered despite Madame Bustier trying to calm them. 

Plagg had other ideas and zipped to the bag from Adrien's backpack. The blonde's eyebrows furrowed and he shared a look with Marinette, who looked worriedly between them then back to him.

What were those two up to?

+

"We need to fix some things," Plagg whispered softly to Tikki, who was worriedly tugging at her antennae. "And by fix, I mean break a few things."

Tikki chewed on her lip before sighing. "Alright. Just this once. But I want to help the others that Marinette calls friends!" she whispered back frantically.

A slow grin crossed Plagg's face. "A bit of bad luck and bit of good luck. Sounds like a plan."

-

Marinette and Adrien were none the wiser to their Kwamis' doings though both witch and student obviously must have known something was up. Even so, a bit of Karma was needed, both good and bad.

For Rose and Juleka, a bit of luck in acing a test. For Ivan and Mylene it was some broken pencils that they favored. For Nathaniel it was a visit from Marc. For Alix it was some new notebooks. In the end, it all broke even and nothing seemed amiss.

Until they got to Lila. Tikki stayed far away, on the other side of the room by Rose. At the same time, Tikki touched Rose's phone as Plagg touched Lila's and both sent messages to important people without their owners' knowledges.

The pair hightailed it back to their chosen before hurrying into hiding as Madame Bustier tried again to get her class under control. The chaos made Plagg giggle while Tikki sighed and curled up in her place within Marinette's purse.

+

Lila would not admit how on top of the world she was as everyone asked her about Ladybug. All except the one person she wanted however, and of that she was very much angered. That little witch thought she was going to get him? Hadn't she heard Lila's promise to take every single thing from her? All her friends and Adrien and everyone were going to leave Marinette and come to her, Lila, no matter what.

A knock came at the door and she turned only to freeze. For there stood an embacy agent, a nasty scowl on his face and his hands holding a large briefcase. "Madamoiselle Bustier?" he called and the woman turned from her work with Rose to see him.

Her eyes widened and she hurried to him even as Lila scrambled in an attempt to get to him first. But those around her were keeping her from leaving as they continued to ask about Ladybug. "Can't talk right now!" she said quickly, trying to get by.

"Lila Rossi is to be brought in for questioning immediately," was heard and Lila froze in her attempts. "The fact she sent that message to our president is against the rights given to all those of the Italian Embassy. Her mother has asked that she be put under house arrest until such a time that she might be returned back to Italy."

Olive green eyes widened further before she was shoving this time, knocking everyone over and rushing by the man and Madame Bustier, from the room and to the nearest bathroom. Once inside, she shut the main door and locked it. She could hear the shouts outside for her, heard the jiggling of the knob moments before she headed to the windows that lined the top of the farmost wall. Lila bit her lip, looked to the door, then reached in her pocket.

The item she pulled from it was a small crystal bottle that seemed to swallow all light around it. Inside the bottle was a thick black substance that boiled and bubbled within its confines. "Time to work some magic," she purred with a smirk.

Without any care, she uncorked the bottle and tipped back the fluid down her throat in a single motion, swallowing it all in one gulp.

+

Marinette's eyes shot wide and she twisted as she shot to her feet. What was that!?

"Mari?" Adrien asked gently, standing slowly to look at her as she peered in the direction she had felt the sudden shift in energy. "What's wrong?"

"Do you feel that?" she whispered, turning sharply and looking to him. It was how she knew he had been looking at her. His form stiffened as he looked in the direction she had. "Something is wrong. All wrong."

"I thought we were just having a storm or something..." he whispered and pointed to the windows over his shoulder, revealing the growing thunderclouds outside that now caught Marinette's eyes. "This doesn't feel like something Hawkmoth-!"

Both of their eyes widened and they stared at each other in horror when they realized Lila was still missing. "Shite!" Marinette cursed and hurried to grab her bags as he grabbed his own. "We have to go. NOW!" she shouted, "NINO! MAX! NATH! ALIX! WE HAVE TO FORM A CIRCLE!"

The three looked to her in alarm before nodding and hurrying to follow as they grabbed their own things. The remainder of the class hurried after them, despite Madame Bustier having told them to stay seated. No matter what, Marinette was still their Class Rep and the most trusted even with Lila living such an enchanting lifestyle.

When all of them got outside, a storm was swirling around the school and beginning to expand. "NO!" Marinette shouted and grabbed Nino's hand when he was near enough. He grabbed Alix's, who grabbed Nathaniel's, who grabbed Max's, who grabbed Marinette's other hand. "Adrien!" she called over the howl of the wind. "You have to find the cause! And fast!"

"Bring the circle closed and seal within it the onslaught brought," chanted the five when Marinette was done speaking. "Bring the circle closed and seal within it the onslaught brought!"

Within moments, the storm stopped spreading and didn't reach beyond the gates of the school. The students not in the circle looked to Adrien sharply and Marinette could hear over her chanting, "We need to find Lila!"

+

Adrien led the manhunt for the missing girl who was tormenting the school. With the powers of the five out front, Adrien knew he had long enough to gather his miniature army and rush for capturing her. First things first, he hurried to gather more troops, the teachers barely questioning even as he shouted that there was an Akuma inside the school attempting to destroy it. A white lie because he honestly had no idea what Lila could have become or done.

"Spread out!" Adrien ordered and rushed into one of the rune marked rooms that Marinette had explained he could use to transform inside. "Plagg!" he called out and the Kwami hurried to summon forth some of his power. Surely even without the transformation, it would still work.

"I got it, I got it!" the black cat shouted and rushed to a wall, hurrying into the duct and flying off as Adrien turned quickly to leave the room and rush to the courtyard where rain was pouring in now, a torrent taking over and soon enough a spout was forming.

Thinking quickly, Adrien pulled out a notebook from his pocket and flicked through it as fast as possible with the wind stirring his hair, clothes and the pages. Reaching what he was looking for, he bit his lip and shut his eyes tight as he slammed the small notebook shut. "WATER FALL, WATER WADE, WATER SLIDE, WATER FADE! WATER OF WIND AND FUNNEL TALL! I COMMAND YOU BEND AND BREAK AT MY CALL!" he shouted, keeping his hands closed over the notebook in a neat fold before him as he tried to send away the bad energy pulled from the funnel.

Slowly, it began to twist and break, scattering in a spread of raindrops before burst in the center and sending him flying back. "ADRIEN!" came a shout and Chloe appeared with Sabrina and Aurore from Mendalieve's class. "Are you okay?" Chloe asked quickly as she helped him stand. He shook as he tried to stand on quaking legs.

"I'm fine!" he called to her over the wind that was picking back up. "I need you three to split up and get the other groups! We need to find Lila and fast!"

"You got it!" Aurore shouted over the wind before she, Chloe and Sabrina separated to hurry off in the directions of the groups that had split up. 

Adrien's eyes widened as a black tar began to rise from the ground this time among the water. It curled and sputtered as it boiled and brewed below. He scrambled up to the top level and stared down at the tar, which was beginning to take the form of a strangely human sort. Huge fists, a face made of the brick from the floor of the school, and twenty eyes that twisted and popped only to reappear seconds later and follow the motion again and again.

He had to get to Marinette!

+

Marinette continued to chant even as the energy began to spread and press against the barriers she was so desperately trying to keep up with help from four of her coven mates. Something was wrong. She could sense it burning hard and cold within the middle of the school. 

"Someone is trying to cross the circle!" Nathaniel shouted as the four others continued to chant. "We need to press harder!"

"More!" Marinette directed and prayed internally even as she chanted alongside the others that they needed to hurry. They needed to stop the darkness. Willing it, Tikki burst from her pouch and raced out of sight and mind of the other witches around them. 'Help Adrien, Tikki!' she cried internally.

+

Tikki raced toward the middle of the school, hurrying in search of Adrien, finding him trying to find a way out along with..."OH NO!" she cried and shot to the monster bearing down on the blonde witchling. "I BANISH YOU WITH LIGHT!" she cried and slammed a paw on the stone face, causing the creature to scream through a dripping mouth before it fell into a puddle. "ADRIEN! WE NEED MOON WATER!" she cried.

Adrien fumbled with his pockets and pulled from one a vial full of glowing white liquid. He uncorked it and Tikki flew to grab it, throwing the bottle into the air before spreading her paws.

"I CALL UPON THE MAGIC OF CREATION! BRING FORTH A GARDEN FROM THIS DARKNESS!" she called out in a chant of sorts and the liquid burst from the vial and spread quickly in a rain of sorts over the creature, which screeched a final time in its attempts to reform only to instead turn into beautiful white moon lilies.

The blonde slumped against the wall behind him while Tikki landed beside him with a soft plop. "Okay..." he whispered before frowning and Tikki looked up as he was to find the storm was breaking apart and clearing. "Is that Marinette's doing?"

"No," Tikki whispered, frowning and lifting from the ground before looking to Adrien. "We need to go back to Marinette and tell her about this. Something is very wrong!"

+

Adrien raced to the front of the school where the five had formed a circle. However, his eyes widened in horror when he caught sight of the five.

Nathaniel and Max were flung to one side, Alix to another, Nino was thrashing on the ground in pain and Marinette was struggling back to her feet. "GUYS!" he shouted and tried to rush forward.

"STAY BACK ADRIEN!" Nino screamed, causing Adrien to stop in his tracks. "THE CIRCLE WAS BROKEN! WE NEED SOMETHING TO SWALLOW THE ENERGY!"

Gulping, Adrien nodded though he knew none of them could see him. Kneeling, he pulled some of Marinette's old amethyst crystals from his pocket and hurried to draw the circle Marinette had taught him onto the cement with a piece of chalk he now carried with him everywhere. Setting the circle, he then drew another around himself, hurrying as fast as possible. Flipping open his notebook as quick as possible, he scanned the words and shut it, once again folding his hands over the notebook and bowing his head as he began to chant the control spell. 

Immediately, energy began to spin and swirl around his outer circle before pulling into his smaller circle and pulling at the chalk weakly despite the wild whirlwind. He held tight to the book and continued his chant, the mark swallowing the energy quickly from the broken circle into his new one. 

He kept his eyes shut tight and tightened his grip further on the notebook until he felt the energy vanish and he collapsed completely, gasping for breath. The chalk was gone and the once beautiful stones were dark and dull.

"A-Adrien..." came Marinette's voice and he looked up to find her staggering to him. She collapsed beside him and leaned into him as he did her. Around them, the others were being helped up by their classmates or others. Whispers were heard all around as the dark haired girl took shaky breaths and picked up one of the stones. "Darkness. Pure and agonizing..." she whispered before her hand drooped. "Gonna need to cleanse these...Poor dears have lost their souls..."

"They'll be okay," Adrien spoke hoarsely, picking up the other stones and climbing up shakily alongside her. All of their classmates looked a bit worse for wear but the worst was over for now. "And so will all of us. Marinette, we need to talk."

"LILA!" came a shout and they both turned weakly to see Madame Bustier standing there in the doorway of the school. "HAS ANYONE SEEN LILA ROSSI!?"

And Adrien knew in that moment just who had summoned the darkness and broke the delicate balance of the circle the five witches had formed. "Times three, right?" Adrien whispered as Tikki came to Marinette and vanished into her blazer instead of the purse while Plagg came hurtling through the air and came to do the same with him. Marinette looked up wide eyed in realization. "That's three per each of you, right? So three to the power of five..."

The dark haired girl gulped and looked around her at everyone. All their friends were soaked through and the witches of their group were shaken from using magic to fight off the darkness that had tried to take over. "No Adrien..." Marinette croaked, her eyes wide as she looked to him. He looked to her with the same expression of horror dawning on his face in realization. "She will feel more than that. This is enough to encure the wrath of all three goddesses."

+

Gabriel had a headache, Nooroo had a headache, Nathalie was trembling, and Dusuu would not stop crying. It was painful for the four, who were still emotional wrecks from the last time an Akuma had tried to appear. This was something else, a true horror of sorts.

So when Adrien and Marinette came running in with their Kwami, not only were they shocked by the sight of Plagg, they were shocked by the way both teens collapsed onto the rug at the same time.

"Marinette! Adrien!"

Neither of the teens moved.

+

Gabriel sat by the side of the bed his son rested on while Nathalie sat on the opposing side beside Marinette. All four Kwami were curled up in a blanket, Dusuu continuing to cry while Nooroo listened intently to the red and the black Kwami as they explained what happened. And from the looks of it, Nathalie was listening as intently as Gabriel was.

Both the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous were in this room. It would be as simple as removing the earrings from Marinette or taking the ring from Adrien. But something kept on screaming at Gabriel and he decided to listen to the voice of reason he honestly believed was his wife. 

He would not take them.

He would not use them.

For he had someones far more powerful and kind and who knew and understood the pain he was going through. He had Nathalie, who was scared and worried about his son as much as the girl beside him. He had Adrien,who was worth more than any amount of money.

And he had Marinette, who was already focused on trying to do something in a way that meant not sacrificing either of those he held dear: Nathalie and Adrien.

Marinette understood his pain. She knew somehow in a way to get under his skin and press him back to order instead of cursing him. She had brought back the sanity he had lost when he lost Emillie. She brought life to his home and he had even thought about inviting her to possibly build a full witch's garden for him, Adrien and Nathalie to work in.

The girl that was Ladybug had brought him closer to his son who was Chat Noir and healed all three of them to the point that they no longer hurt.

Seeing them now, listening to the horrible retelling of the events and Plagg growing angry because he couldn't catch Lila in time, made him regret ever being Hawkmoth. Why couldn't it be like before? Probably because the Peacock Miraculous was still broken and Emillie was still asleep. If he could become Monark again, in place of Hawkmoth and feed on good emotions to build people up...

"Gabriel, you're okay," came Nooroo's voice and Gabriel realized he was trembling and had tears running down his cheeks. "They will be alright. This isn't like when Plumagi..."

"I know," Gabriel whispered and the shaking stopped as he looked to the Kwami. "I am truly sorry, Nooroo, Dusuu, Tikki, Plagg. I should have thought my plans through better."

Nooroo smiled and floated over to sit on Gabriel's shoulder. "You may have taken the Butterfly Miraculous from Emillie, but I promise, it'll be okay. Because you are already so much better, Gabriel," he cooed and rubbed against the man's neck. "All will be right. I promise."

This made Gabriel give a soundless sob as his shoulders shook and he lifted a hand to hold onto Nooroo as gently as he could. "Thank you...Nooroo..."

Tikki made her way over to sit beside Marinette as Plagg moved to Adrien. Dusuu was slow and moved to sit on the arm of Nathalie's chair, looking up at her with streaming eyes. "I'm sorry," she stammered and stared at the woman, who smiled and wrapped a hand gently but firmly around her. "I don't understand my own emotions anymore. It's so painful."

"I know, Dusuu," Nathalie whispered and lifted the Peacock Kwami up with her hand to nuzzle her as Gabriel had Nooroo. "You'll be better soon. I promise."

As if hearing them, both teens opened their eyes slightly then blinked awake. "Dad?" Adrien muttered in confusion before he froze when he saw Gabriel crying. Or maybe he saw Nooroo. Either way, Gabriel was a mess and he held onto Nooroo even as he wrapped an arm around Adrien.

"Don't scare me like that, son," he whisper-sobbed and held on tight to Adrien. "I can't lose you too."

"You won't lose me..." Adrien whispered, shock evident in his voice. "B-but you have a K-kwami...?"

Gabriel gave a stuttering sob into into Adrien's shoulder. "I have so much to tell you. So much, my son."

And they would talk, Gabriel promised himself even as Nooroo and Adrien tried to calm him down enough to let go so they could get him to stop crying. Years of sorrow were finally being released however, and Gabriel gave a garbled speech into Adrien's shoulder that to himself made no sense and had Adrien staring at him with shock and confusion.

Oh boy. Who knew he, Gabriel Freaking Agreste, was an ugly crier? He didn't even care that his glasses had fallen off or that his neat suit was pinched and pulled in places. Nope. Instead, all he cared about was holding onto one of the most important people in his life. And so what if Adrien's shirt was ruined by snot and tears? 

Gabriel was going to buy Adrien new shirts. Maybe even special order them from Marinette. 

Either way, Gabriel needed to cry right then. And so he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOH BOY. I think I opened a real can of snakes with this one. Lila has realized that she went too far and yet didn't do anything (Thank you Plagg).
> 
> So, I made a special note. I wanted Gabriel Agreste to cry at some point, over death, loss or the mere thought of losing everything dear to him. It's an important thing that he do so, for it means he is healing and moving on. But it also means that this leaves the enemy open to an advantage. 
> 
> Accordingly, Lila seems to be the enemy right now, and the sludge seems to be performing as an Akuma might. Wonder where I'm going with this? And no, it is not a Sentimonster. 
> 
> On a final note, Lila does not follow the rule of three and relies solely on the idea that she is above all and more a god. Marinette is the opposite and follows the rule along with the goddesses. This is not Madoka Magica so anyone making those assumptions, no there is no Kyuubey.
> 
> However...Lila is pretty much the Homura to Marinette's Madoka. Just without the love. So where can this go when all they feel towards each other, is not only not a match but is also not far off?


	6. 6 - Battle Scars and Healing a Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything moving forward has a dark and light side to it. Without enemies, who would heroes fight? Sometimes the darkness is needed to help provide a thought, a feeling to emotions. But when the darkness becomes too strong, where does the light go?
> 
> What does balance mean?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LONG LONG TIME AGO I HAD MY OWN LITTLE SHOOOOOOOW~~...Okay, no, I didn't, but eh.
> 
> So, I had a small accident and sprained my hand about a week or so ago while I was walking the dog and somehow tripped on a stick (A FREAKING STICK) and caught myself on a tree. Add onto that same night, I somehow managed to tear half of one of my freaking finger nails off (AND THERE WAS NO BLOOD THANK THE GODDESS!) so I had a pain in one hand while the other was bandaged on that one finger. it is incredibly hard to type with a useless hand and a hurting, throbbing finger.
> 
> More details below. And a warning for some dark elements in this chapter. Things are not all good in this world...

6 - Battle Scars and Healing a Princess

Many hours later found a sleeping Gabriel on his son's bed, emotionally drained with a cleaned face and wearing a pair of pajamas grabbed from Adrien's closet that had been three sizes too big for Adrien but fit Gabriel pretty well. And the whole time, Adrien never left his father's side. Nathalie and Marinette had helped Adrien dress the man before heading to the kitchen to make some dinner. All of the Kwamis followed, Plagg starving for cheese but scared seemingly to grab some of the not-so-well-hidden pile near the laundry.

"Here you go," Marinette hummed as she placed a plate of cheese and cookies on the table between Plagg and Tikki while Nathalie carefully peeled some apples and placed a couple graham crackers on the table for Dusuu and Nooroo. "Hey, Nooroo?" Marinette asked as she cut up some vegetables for a vegetable stew. When the Kwami looked to her, she continued, "Just how long has it been since Gabriel had a good cry or actually hugged Adrien without a reason besides just holding his son?"

Silence was her answer and she gave a small hum of disapproval before returning to her work. 

"I see. I think he's finally healing then."

This seemed to catch Nathalie's attention and she looked up from where she was fixing some tea for everyone, including the four gods sitting on the table. "Finally healing? What do you mean?"

Marinette bit her lip before explaining. "Gabriel seems the very definition of 'emotionally stunted'. Even you show more now. Before today however, he had kept a strong enough facade to give the illusion he barely felt anything. Even his smiles seemed too tight to be natural. It makes me wonder if years ago, with Miss Emillie, that he was a vibrant man who cared deeply and warmly. Adrien has shown me pictures before. Of his father smiling."

Silence won again as Nathalie seemed to sink into thought while Nooroo smiled and Dusuu rubbed at her eyes with a sniffle. "Gabriel was...the best hero ever..." the Peacock whisper sobbed. "He was gentle and careful and kind...Adrien loved him...even though he didn't know me...And Miss Emillie loved Adrien and Gabriel...SO MU-U-UCH!!!" she cried, a river of tears escaping her eyes as she began to cry.

"Dusuu," Nathalie called and the Peacock Kwami flew to her quickly, hugging her hand while the woman hushed her and practically cradled her. Looking up, Nathalie smiled softly. She looked near tears too. 

"Oh no," Marinette groaned, slumping slightly over her chopping board as she set aside the knife. "I'm making everyone emotional. All I want is for everyone to be happy!"

A laugh left Nathalie and she patted Marinette's shoulder. "I can assure you, Marinette. This is a good thing."

Plagg shifts on his plate beside Tikki and looks to Marinette. "Adrien called the guy dad. I don't think I've ever heard him call him that..."

At this, Marinette smiled and nodded before returning to her chopping. She chuckled as the veggies floated from the bowl neatly into the pot she had Nathalie purchase especially for this reason. It was hilarious watching all of the Kwami giggle at the shocked look on the woman's face along with the childlike awe in her eyes.

Once the soup was underway and some herb biscuits were in the oven, Marinette asked the Kwami not to touch anything while she and Nathalie took the tea to the men upstairs. Plagg shouted, "Scouts hon-OW!"

"We'll be good!" the three others called all the while as Plagg whined about, 'Why are women so cruel! Only cheese loves me!'

All things were good as the pair entered the room and Marinette walked to her side of the bed before she passed Adrien a mug of lavendar and peppermint tea while keeping a mug full of honeyed chamomile for herself. She could tell from the tear tracks on his face that he had been crying some too. "You okay, Minou?" she cooed and brushed her thumbs over his face after setting down her mug and moving his away. He moved as if to turn away but she held him firmly and gently. "No, no. No hiding, mon minou. Please tell me what's wrong."

A small choke left Adrien and he leaned into her. "He actually does love me. I was so scared he was silently hating me and forcing me to model because he hated me. My father...My dad loves me and he..." a small whine left the boy as he collapsed into Marinette, who held onto him and gently combed at his hair and scratched gently at his head. "All this time...He...He never knew... And yet he..."

"Adrien, I need you to promise me something," Marinette whispered and gently pulled away to bow her head and look him in the eyes from a rather submissive pose. "I need you to promise that you won't yell or scream or give him the cold shoulder for what he has to tell you, okay? Things are happening far faster than any of us expected. And you need to know the whole truth and trust him, Nathalie, and me as well, okay?"

Adrien nodded while biting his lip before he buried his face back in her neck and hugged her tightly. "Of course, Mari. I just want to understand why!"

"And you will, I promise, Minou."

+

Nathalie smiled as she sat on the side of the bed and looked to Gabriel, who was still asleep and had taken to holding onto one of Adrien's pillows with his face buried in it. With his hair mused, it was absolutely hilarious and frankly it made it all the better to see him so relaxed. "Gabe. Hey, Gabe? Gaaaabrieeelll~!" Nathalie hummed and shook him gently after making sure the tea was safely set away on the table by the bed. When her shaking didn't work, she smirked at the two teens who had turned to watch before she leaned slightly away and said, "Oh well. Guess I'll have to drink all the Red Bull again."

Gabriel sat up with a jolt and pointed in her general direction though he was way out of it. "NO MORE RED BULL!"

Nathalie smiled. "And there's the Gabriel Agreste that hides away from everyone."

The man blinked awake before looking around then freezing as he realized he was in pajamas and this was not his bed. Cue him trying to tame his hair with his hands and hoping it looks model ready instead of the rat's nest that it usually was when he first woke up in the morning but failed to screw his sleepy face into its usual resting-B-face. "Nathalie, what time is it?"

"Almost dinner time, Gabriel," she said and passed him his mug. "Now explain things to your son while Marinette and I go check on the four little gods in the kitchen watching the soup and biscuits."

With that, Marinette pulled gently away from Adrien, who watched her go before both women sighed as they closed the door.

"Will they be okay?" Nathalie whispered carefully as they moved away from the room.

"Yes, I know so," Marinette assured and smiled at her. Nathalie knew she could trust her. 

But as they were walking through the foyer to head back to the kitchen, Nathalie noticed how Marinette swayed to a stop. "Marinette?" the woman asked and turned to her, shooting forward as she suddenly began to tumble down to the floor. "MARI! ADRIEN! GABRIEL! SOMEONE!" the woman screamed in a way she never would have until now.

The dark haired girl was pallid and her eyes were glassy. Their mugs lay broken on the floor, tea everywhere, but Gabriel, Adrien and the Kwami came quick as they could. Normally, Gorilla would have been there to help, but he was still on paid leave and was probably in the mountains skiing right then.

Adrien slid onto his knees as soon as he was close enough and gently pulled Marinette into his arms, running a hand over her head. Wincing, he looked to his hand before frowning and concentrating from the look of it. 

"What are you trying to do, Adrien?" Gabriel asked, Nathalie pointedly ignoring his still messy bedhead.

"Marinette can channel her energy," the teen witchling murmured, seeming to try concentrating harder. "If she can do so, maybe I can too since I have Plagg. I know it isn't the same as Tikki's but..." he trailed off as all three of their eyes widened and Marinette gave a sigh when a soft green glow came from Adrien's hand. Small glittering sparks bounced off Adrien's hand as he stroked it through Marinette's hair and she calmed, eyes closing and her body slumping completely. "Princess? Princess, wake up," he cooed and continued to try waking her.

Oddly enough, she woke groggy and out of it. "Oh no..." she whispered and reached up to touch her head only to flinch away from herself. "I let it go too long. This is bad."

Adrien's eyes widened and yet Nathalie felt as lost as Gabriel looked. "A cleansing? You haven't cleansed at all?"

The witch shook her head. "No...been busy..." she murmured and tried to lift herself up but failed. "Oh man...it's bad. So, so bad."

Determination filled Nathalie and the two men looked to her with the same look she gave them. They might not be full witches and two of them might not be proper witchlings, but there was no harm in trying, right? Besides, Marinette could guide them if need be.

"Princess," Adrien spoke softly, continuing to stroke at her hair, which had been taken out of its signature look hours ago. "We'll help you...if you let us?"

Her eyes widened and for a moment Nathalie felt a small spike of fear even though she somehow knew that Marinette would not say no. Something was yelling at the woman that Marinette needed help and would accept it no matter what. 

It was the same voice that had asked Nathalie not even a full two weeks ago when this all began if she wanted to let Marinette help. It was the same voice, the same motherly tone that was crying for the hurting girl before her.

Weakly nodding, Marinette curled up in Adrien's arms. "Yes. Of course," she croaked. "I would never trust three people more besides my own parents and my spectres."

Nathalie nearly burst out laughing at the sheer irony in the statement. The girl was LADYBUG and had come to trust GABRIEL and NATHALIE, who were HAWKMOTH and MAYURA, as if they were family. The woman didn't know if she should laugh or cry with joy.

+

Adrien frowned in deep thought as he took notes while on the phone with Mama Sabine, who was explaining what he would need most during the healing process. From the sounds of the meal that Marinette had already begun to prepare, she was beginning a mini cleansing but failed to connect in the end.

"And you're sure that you don't mind me trying?" Adrien asked again, worried because even as the woman's voice assured him inside that Marinette's words were all that mattered, he needed the girl's parents to know what he was doing and have their permission and this made the woman coo inside him as she assured him again and again that what he was doing was correct.

Mama Sabine assured him herself before they hung up and Adrien walked to his bedroom where Gabriel and Nathalie were sitting with Marinette, Nathalie busily and gently rubbing a soothing oil into Marinette's skin that was made of several different scents and caused Adrien to wonder how they smelled so good when it was almost like pepper in his nose but not in a bad way. His teacher was worriedly ill-looking but was smiling as Nathalie carefully rubbed at certain joints.

Gabriel stood off to the side, now dressed in a clean pair of slacks and a simple looking dress shirt with the sleeves carefully tied at the elbows. It was amazing seeing his father like this, glasses in place and hair brushed back but not gelled into its semi-bouffant look. Now though, the woman's voice was trying to keep Adrien's mind from wandering. He needed to pay attention to the girl who was suffering greatly right that moment and would need to be soothed before they could do anything.

A new voice began to whisper and he blinked as he swore it was an elderly woman, who told him what he would need and he moved to his altar where his carefully purified crystals were. Grabbing up several black tourmaline, three small clear quartz, and one of his pretty amethyst clusters that seemed to glow as he lifted it, he understood the reasons for them immediately. The amethyst's power would amplify what he needed it to, the black tourmaline would suck up the negativity and the clear quartz would amplify them all.

Reassured, Adrien grabbed his chalk and several candles as well from the little drawer below before leading the charge down into the open floor plan bathroom they had been using. Gabriel stayed outside the circle and was seemingly looking through some of the notes that Marinette had given Adrien so as to help guide his son from outside the circle that would be formed. It was the next best thing they had since Marinette kept drifting in and out.

Between the three of them, the voices in their heads were gentle and calm, seemingly assuring of what they were doing. Adrien focused his energy on the magic flowing from his fingers into Marinette's head and hair, gently scraping his nails over her scalp while dragging his fingers through her hair to the ends and worked back through again. 

He repeatedly thanked the voices of the three in his head, the third having popped in from time to time to warn if he went too deep with his magic and to pause Nathalie just a little as the woman rubbed the special soaps that Adrien had made into Marinette's skin. From toe tips to the tops of Marinette's ears, the pair worked carefully, following both Gabriel's words and the voices in their heads.

Carefully reaching to the side of the bath as Nathalie helped Marinette to her feet in the tub, Adrien gulped and called upon the goddesses for their blessings because even though he was scared, he knew who he should be thanking and praying to. He even began to whisper as he poured the moon water over his teacher's head.

Over her screams, the sludge escaped in great spurts. The voices called out over her cries, assuring Adrien and the pair with him that this was normal, that the evil was being forced from her body. Something was off about it but Adrien continued his chants even as the bathtub, which didn't stand very high, suddenly began to overflow.

The lights went out. It fell deathly quiet. And then Gabriel could be heard whispering, "Lights on," which set the autolights against the far wall to their brightest capacity, which in all honesty wasn't much. It was enough however for them all to see that the gray sludge had spread to the edges of the circle but did not leave it and in fact seemed to slowly be turning white. 

Now the lights flickered again and Gabriel cursed aloud when they flickered out. But then the room lit again, brighter than before and growing. Flowers filled the tub, white and pure and spouting small motes of innocence that screamed louder than anything they could ever hope to see. Marinette was trembling as they crawled from within her skin, down to her feet, then seemed to make themselves at home in what remained of the bathwater. The sludge beyond the tub was seemingly trying to fight its own death, hammering at the invisible walls that made up the circle only for the long, goopy fingers to turn into whisps of light followed closely by the white lily-like flowers.

Finally, all seemed to calm as the sludge was gone along with the bathwater but the lilies continued their glow even as Adrien carefully, and with guidance from a quivering Marinette, broke the circle and relief filled everyone in the room as the girl collapsed into the pile of flowers and sighed when the energy within was released.

"Oh goddess..." she whispered and looked around her. "Adrien, Nathalie, Gabriel, thank you so much."

A knock came at the door and Adrien scrambled to it to hurry and open it, revealing the Kwami sitting on the floor, the pot of finished (and not burnt) food between them. Plagg grinned. "Anyone hungry?"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lila scowled at her phone as if it had betrayed her. She had long since used her Dark Magic to turn it into something more fitting to her uses, but still. This was annoying.

"Damned thing," she cursed and threw it across the room to hit one of the dummies she had made. Some of her sludge goons shivered and slithered away from her. "YOU!" she shouted and pointed at one in particular. "Come here," she purred when it looked at her. "I need you to play a game for me. And I need that little reporter girl to do so. Once I have Hawkmoth's Miraculous, I can begin stage one of my plan since getting rid of Dupain-Cheng isn't working so far."

She crossed her arms as the sludge monster neared and she thrust her hand into its dense head, making it groan in pain before she ripped her hand from it and the goon fell to the ground where it was slurped up by another set of passing mini-goons that had yet to fully form.

In Lila's hands was a small black orb and she grinned darkly, teeth grit tight and eyes flashing. "Let's see what happens when the Marinette's own goons begin to fall one by one."

+++

Lila smiled as she neared Alya, who was standing awkwardly on a corner, looking around with worry. "Hey! Alya!" the brown haired girl shouted, waving to her. "Over here!"

Alya hurried to her no problem. It was so simple! "Lila! Oh, everyone is looking for you all over Paris! Where have you been? Why did you run?"

"I ran because they're bad people, Alya," Lila whispered and touched her cheek while putting on as frightened a look as possible. "Madame Bustier is a part of a Necromantic coven. And that man? He was a slave trader pretending to work for the embacy."

"I can't believe you!" Alya shouted before choking as Lila's hand suddenly thrust full force into her chest. She lifted her hands slowly, staring at the limb that disappeared into her body and seemed to be squeezing something into her heart. "W-what is-! S-STOP!"

"Let my words be your own," Lila chanted softly, squeezing the dark orb from her goon into the other girl's heart as if she were moulding Play-Dough. "My word will be your law. Let the darkness inside grow. You are my best friend, you are my ally, you," she finished with a smirk, "Are my little toy. Precious puppet, tell me who you belong to now!" she shouted and pulled her hand free, not a bit of blood to be seen anywhere.

Alya's body seemed to pulse as she stared at her hands, which trembled visibly. "N-n-..." she tried to swallow from the look of it and Lila smiled as all the fight suddenly left her and Lila bowed down on one knee. "I belong to you, Mistress."

That wide smirk on Lila's lips could have cut a brick in two. "That's what I like to hear. Now stand my puppet. We have work to do."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adrien frowned when something twitched outside his perception line and he turned his head even as the three around him continued to eat and speak between bites. Something had changed and a voice whispered to him, warned him. Something was here. Or rather, something was coming this way.

Without much thought, he stood, causing the Kwami and three humans to turn to him. Plagg however also looked discontent. "You sensed that too, huh, kid?" he asked as he moved to float beside Adrien before landing on his shoulder. "That shift in the balance of the world. It's not something that is good."

"Adrien, Plagg," Marinette called out and stood, still shaky, behind them. "What's wrong?"

"The balance is being tipped," Plagg spoke as Adrien turned, bringing both Kwami and chosen to turn to their healing Witch Teacher and the two adults. "Because it wasn't light magic that grew, you and Tikki are probably not sensing it the way we did."

Tikki frowned at Marinette and the pair closed their eyes before they shot wide and looked back to the other two. "No way..." Marinette whispered, collapsing into her seat. 

"What is wrong?" Nathalie asked, reaching out to touch and soothe at Marinette's shoulders as they quivered slightly with fright. 

"Someone is breaking the balance of good and bad luck," Tikki explained as Marinette looked ready to be sick. "Remember when Gabriel would send Akuma and you would send the Amuk? When you did, you broke balancing laws of nature. Ladybug and Chat may be the holders of both good and bad luck, but the fact is that only together can they balance it. With two extra ounces of darkness added, the bad luck tipped more to the darkness and formed..." Tikki's eyes went wide. "That sludge...Now I know where I've seen it before!"

"The plague!" Plagg shouted and flew to her sharply, gripping her cheeks. "Tikki, we can't let it happen again! Human kind was nearly wiped off the planet because of the mistakes made by the Dark-Magi! We can't let that happen again!"

"I know, Plagg, I know," Tikki hummed and gently grabbed his paws to hold them with her own. "Don't worry. This time we have more light than before."

"But the Miracle box..." Adrien whispered. "Where is it?"

Marinette frowned. "I know where the Miraculous are but not the box. And Master Fuu lost all his memories connected to it, so that is lost. But the Miraculous spirits are safe."

"How do we repair Dusuu's Miraculous then?" Gabriel asked, standing as Nathalie was doing and their Kwami rushed to them. "Will that help to restore some balance?"

"I know of one thing and one person that are needed to restore balance," Tikki murmured as she flew to Marinette while Plagg moved back to Adrien and the student helped his teacher to stand without falling. "We repair the Peacock Miraculous...And wake the Sleeping Queen."

+++

Adrien frowned as he once again found himself in his circle. He looked behind him where Marinette was asleep on his bed while Gabriel, Nathalie and the Kwami were gathered around the table by his window playing a game of Rich Man-Poor Man. He had asked for some privacy but he didn't expect them to actually give any.

Shaking his head, he closed his eyes and curled down into the circle, a strange feeling of contentment filling him as he was once again pulled from the waking world. He didn't open his eyes even as he felt hands stroking his hair and the hard table had become a soft cushion of knees. "Mom..." he whispered, "I...I need your help..."

"Your Lady," she whispered and he felt her hands still before they continued to stroke back his hair. "She felt the darkness shift as well, I see. I am sorry. But there is no way I can return without..."

"Without what, mom?" Adrien called out, gripping her pantleg, which he only knew was a pair of pants because he could feel the divide of knees against his ear. "Please, I need to know. The darkness is growing and soon we will need a way to fight it off. If you know anything, please tell me!"

All was silent a moment as she twirled a piece of hair between her fingers before she sighed. "My darling. Only the sacrifice of a soul can heal me. I am...not dead...but not alive either. In some form or other, there may be another way. But I only know of the surrendering of a soul. It's the only way to wake someone...who has done what I have with my Miraculous."

"What did you do? Why a sacrifice?"

"Adrien, I'm going to tell you something," she whispered and continued to soothe at his hair. "A long time ago, before you were born and when I was the holder of the Nooroo, I did something incredibly stupid and stole Dusuu so I might save my own mother. She...the price was too great and I became ill. Even as you grew, I knew that I was dying. Dusuu was never the same and your father locked her away so that she might one day be purified. But the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous were missing still and the holder of the box could not be found.

"Adrien, my own stupidity brought me here. They call me the Sleeping Queen because when I was the keeper of the Butterfly, I was a great and powerful Monarch. I could stop battles with a flick of wrist or call for a beheading just as fast though I never dared test such power. Waking me, though Tikki believes it might be the only way to stop the darkness, just isn't possible without making a sacrifice that none of you can make. Not for me.

"My darling, you need to know. I am no longer a great Monarch. I no longer am capable of these things. One day when I have attoned for my sins, the darkness in my own heart will lift and my body will awaken. Until such a time, please, focus on uniting yourself with your Lady, father and Nathalie."

A tear slid down Adrien's face and a thumb wiped it away. "Alright. But I promise. Once this is over," he whispered and sat up sharply to look her with narrowed eyes straight into her own shocked green, "I will save you. I won't let you drown in sin forever, mom!"

She smiled softly, tears of her own in her eyes and he knew she looked just like this, just as he remembered even to now. "I'll stay with the anemones. They will protect me."

He smiled back and hugged her tightly even as the world around them began to fade in a sheet of watercolor along with her own form. "Sleep with the anemones then, even if it is a place you will be all alone."

She laughed softly even as she broke away. "You've truly found a place to be you, haven't you, my darling..."

He opened his eyes and found himself back in the circle, the tea lights still lit and the sounds of the others behind him had quieted to what sounded like a harsh game of go-fish. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, sighing. "Just don't drown in the anemone, okay mom?" he whispered and sighed again before standing slowly and heading over to the bed as the others looked over to him.

Marinette was still asleep, her form curled into his pillows even as she dreamed. He smiled and reached out, touching her hair. She smiled in her sleep and whispered, "Mon...Chaton..." before her lips parted on a breath and she curled up tighter.

"Yeah," he whispered and bowed, kissing her cheek. "Mon Madmoiselle Noir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, the one hope Tikki had was to awaken Emillie as soon as possible! Why can't she awaken? Because she tried to pull an Edward and Alphonse and save her dying mother...who had still been alive but the point remains. She got lucky because the only side of her untouched was her soul, which connects to Adrien through the powers he possesses inside his circles. He's able to call upon her spirit for guidance, but right now the option of bringing her back is not possible because she knows she must atone for her crimes against the balance. Gabriel didn't understand this before and when Adrien gives him the down-low on what's happening, the man will realize just what might have happened. After all, it's not only Marinette who said this alone with him, but also his wife to Adrien. The question though is: Will Emillie be able to be awakened? There is glory in power, but also...a price.
> 
> \---
> 
> GAH! Okay, so this morning, I was able to type more and I've been straining my brain to finish this. But here's a little story of WHY I TOOK SO LONG.
> 
> When I began work on the chapter, I told myself I would take my time and just let the creativity move with my hands, right? WRONG! First, I ended up going to a doctor's appointment and then I got sick. Migraines for about a week. Then clumsy clutz I am, I tripped on a TWIG (It was a stick. I tripped on a stick. Because I live in the outskirts of a town in a forest...Which is nice and all but still. It was a STICK!) and managed to sprain my hand really bad (but not my foot??? How???). My mother did not know about it. My father and papa did not know about it. Why? Because I am a brat and refuse to admit defeat. However, I managed to also tear half a nail off while trimming my nails (I AM SO DUMB) because I accidentally pulled instead of cutting. Everyone knew about that one. Brilliance. Well, the nail is mostly healed and doesn't hurt, that stopped about two days ago. And then, something really weird happened. 
> 
> Has anyone actually paid attention to how Marinette plays her games? Like the way she holds the controller? A few years back, I used to do something similar because I always seem to hurt the same hand. My right one. My writing, drawing, sign-here-please-so-we-can-help-you hand. I have sprained is so many times, falling and landing wrong, sleeping on it wrong, and one time I managed to almost break it. It did not break. But this next part is weird because it always happens when I'm doing something odd or with video games and family.
> 
> Many moons ago, when I first hurt my hand in grade-school, I wasn't able to write for a month. I cried honest tears and had to have a helper with work. I played Final Fantasy X back then. I am old, get over it. Anyway, I had been up against the scum that is Seymour. Say what you want, I hate him. I was watching my cousin play and he was having trouble. Realizing something, I took the controller and pulled an effing Marinette, pressing the buttons in a way that screams 'ARCADE GEEK 1990' and managed to kill that version of Seymour. My hand pops. I mean literally, just this loud pop and I freaked out because it hurt. I shook my hand out, it hurt that bad, but stopped when all the pain just, stopped? It no longer hurt. I could hold the controller normally again. We never spoke of what happened save to laugh it off and show our grams and my mom that I could now hold a pencil even if I was still a little stiff.
> 
> Fast forward about two years and I smash the dang thing in a door (GENIUS). This time, it's dotHACK//Infection that my cousin is playing with me. Again the same thing happens. He just stared at me and I stared back before we said that this was just a weird thing. Maybe it was because we were so close. Our relationship began to falter after that, though, thanks to outside interference. It was never spoken of...again.
> 
> It hasn't happened since then until TWO DAYS AGO! And I have hurt my hand many times since then, too! But I also haven't been as into the gaming scene as I once was, either. Sure, I still played, just not with my cousins or anyone else. But I happened to be playing Kingdom Hearts, Mari-style again, trying to get a stupid picture of a Hidden Mickey. My mom comes in, there's a loud pop, pain, then nothing and I flail before realizing my hand is no longer hurting. 
> 
> So here's the stupid part. I play games now with my papa and I was in my room alone until my mom came in and startled me. Did the game fix me, or did my mom freaking me out do it?
> 
> If anyone can tell me, let me know. Cause twice is weird and threes a trend?
> 
> Anyway, I'll try to write more and keep everything going smoothly from here on out. Hopefully without more weird crap happening.


	7. 7 - Quiet Mornings and a Broken Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila's bidding is interrupting many things, but not the relations between Adrien and Marinette. As the pair grow closer and Adrien wishes for more, darkness grows in the very shadows spread from one of its creators. But even Lila's power can't destroy everything. Interference with one relationship isn't going to stop them from living. Adrien just hopes and prays to all the powers he can of his own that his light continues to blossom and never goes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See ending for notes of where the heck I've been and what I've been up to!

7 - Quiet Mornings and a Broken Friendship

Marinette awoke slowly before tilting her head slightly to see Adrien curled up around her, his arms holding onto her tightly as he stared at something over her head. It was obvious he had been awake for some time but no other noises came from around her save the familiar snores of Tikki and what could only be sleepy mumblings from Plagg.

"Adrien?"

He didn't move save to pull her closer and continue to stare at that something over her head. His gaze looked hard and impenetrable, something that she had long associated with something only an Agreste could pull off. Seeing it on Adrien however was worrying. 

Silence continued around them and they stared in their directions, him above and her at his face. "I need to know you're okay, Adrien," she whispered and cuddled against him as he finally gave a stuttering breath and lowered his gaze as he pressed his nose into her hair. "Adri-!"

"Shh," he hummed and twisted his legs with hers as if now deciding that since she was awake he could do so. One hand came up and gently stroked at her hair. "I'm thinking. Dangerous pastime, I know, but I need to explain something and I don't know how."

Blinking, she stared, before smiling and nodding as she snuggled against him again and closed her eyes as he continued to stroke her hair and his other hand shifted up the back of her shirt to gently press against the middle of her spine. It was a silent question, a silent need and she nodded as he gave a stuttering breath before he finally seemed to relax and began to draw invisible marks into her back. 

It took her a minute to realize they were runes, which he had taken to studying, and he started at the top and worked down, spelling out her name as he went along with his own. She would have freaked out but it was soothing as he lifted his hand and seemingly did it again. Same pressure, same marks.

Dozing off, Marinette heard as Adrien whispered something before the realm of sleep took her away completely.

+++

Adrien stared at the wall as his fingers continued to stroke marks into Marinette's back. As he went, he gently whispered the words of a spell he had been working on. Something that he had not thought he'd actually use and prayed to the gods and goddesses that someone up there listened to him and knew this was being used for a good reason.

"Protect my beloved and that she be safe no matter what. Keep her safe and warm at my side. Don't destroy our love and let her be happy with me. Of goddesses I pray. Please let my love be proven true. So mote it be."

As if in answering, he watched as the candles on his altar lit, flickering gently before the God and Goddess candles lit and flickered in answer. He smiled and closed his eyes.

"Thank you."

-

Adrien sat at the breakfast table that morning, both he and Marinette sitting side by side because he had requested it. Gabriel and Nathalie sat across from them, the large table now seeming so much smaller for the first time in years. Even after the past couple weeks, Adrien actually felt like he had a family.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. It was the morning of their return. Today they would be going to school. It would be the first day back after healing the hurting Marinette and the first day after the weirdness of himself actually summoning forth enough power to send away energies using something he still barely understood.

However, what he was about to say needed to be said before they could leave. He had held it in this whole time. He had performed his little spell on Marinette as many times as she allowed, even snuggling on the couch with him just so he could get his fingers over the skin of her back. She must not have known what he was writing because she always asked what sort of spell it was, but he assured her it was just a protection spell he found. One that he knew was working.

But now? Now was going to be the biggest let down and relief for all of them. He looked up and opened his mouth, about to speak when the doorbell rang. Blinking, Adrien looked to everyone with equal confusion given his way. The circle had just been broken that morning, right after he and Marinette had gotten dressed. Nathalie had given Marinette some clothing and had helped to tie her hair into a pair of space buns with little pink ribbon bows around the bases and little star clips on the tops. Even Adrien looked a bit different, his clothing a bit more playful from the, 'It's Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus', that his father pulled out of nowhere along with a very cool looking overshirt decorated by moons and stars. He and Marinette were a match. But back on topic, who would knock on the door when they all knew that the circle's spasmodic effects blocked off normal non-mages and they didn't know of any of their friends visiting?

Gabriel called Nooroo to him suddenly as he stood sharply and Nooroo hid in his collar as Plagg immediately did with Adrien. Marinette and Nathalie blinked at each other before calling their own Kwami to them and Nathalie made sure that her skirts were evened out as she stood and turned, ready to answer the door, Adrien spoke in a low tone while Gabriel moved quickly past her. 

"Nathalie stay here with Marinette."

Both witch and woman blinked in confusion though Marinette moved to stand beside Nathalie while Adrien moved to follow his father. However, Adrien stayed just out of sight behind a pillar and he felt his eyes narrow as he heard a familiar voice echo in the entryway.

"I just need to speak with Marinette and Adrien. It's a friend thing. You wouldn't understand."

Alya? Adrien racked his brain, reaching up to touch a pendant he had made himself as he tried to figure out what was going on. The crystal was imbued with energy that helped open his mind and he prided himself on knowing exactly what it could do if he pushed enough of Plagg's energy into it. From the feeling alone it gave off, he knew that Alya wasn't here for friendly things like she suggested and his dad wasn't having any of it.

The Runes that Adrien had placed on the ground outside the door, just within the entranceway but out far enough that no one noticed them. It was a detour, but Nooroo had been with Adrien along with Adrien's dad. They had watched as Adrien carefully carved each rune carefully, with intent, with something so deep that it burned and protected the entrance to their home. It was crazy. It was preposterous! But now as Adrien watched Alya try to seemingly fight the energy of the power keeping her out because Gabriel had not given her permission, he was gloriously happy and relieved as Alya's tune suddenly changed.

"Look, you stupid man," she sneered in a tone Adrien had never heard before. "Your son is sleeping with a whore. I came to warn him about her. Dupain-Cheng is a fraud and a fake and she ruins everything she touches. Whatever she promised you? It's a lie. It's fake and false. Not to mention she's a stalker. Do you think she loves poor Adrien? She isn't in love with him. She's in love with his image and his money and whatever he can give her. She's told me these things herself. You want proof? Go to the bakery with a warrant and check out her room in depth. She's got word documents dedicated to her little connections with Adrien. And you'll want a warrant for her diary because I'm willing to bet she's got tons of information in it that'll make you sick and so ill you'll put her where she belongs."

All throughout this, Gabriel stayed quiet and watched Alya. Nooroo looked up at Adrien from behind Gabriel's head, sending a small sign of sorts to Adrien and the witch-in-training nodded before turning and looking to Plagg. "You sense it too, don't you?" he whispered to him.

Plagg nodded and frowned. "Yeah. And it doesn't have the nice smell of camambert either. This stinks from something rather...dirty..."

Adrien nodded and pulled the charm off over his head and held out the crystal to Plagg with a little grin as his Kwami's eyes widened at the implications. The crystal was small and shaped in a way that suggested Adrien had cut it into a perfect triangular shape as best he could. It was black and echoed with a soft energy. Plagg looked to Adrien and tilted his head. "Return the energy if it echoes? You are the Kwami of Bad Luck after all and it will fix things if anything goes wrong."

"But you'll have to talk to her yourself," Plagg whispered in a worried tone. "Are you sure you want to change this?"

Nodding again, Adrien pulled his collar slightly and Plagg took the hint, hiding within as Adrien carefully hid the chain back down his shirt. To any outside force, no matter how smart, he looked like a boy trying out witchy fashion and pulled it off easily. His own hair was a mess in similarity to his alter ego, but he tried to summon forth all his acting abilities because while Alya was still shouting at Gabriel to listen to her, she had said things that sounded familiar. 

Turning around the pillar, Adrien walked over as if it were normal and placed a calming hand on his dad's shoulder. "Hey Alya, what's up? Why are you yelling like that?"

He tried to keep his face neutral as he watched her frantically shout about how Marinette was a liar, a fraud, blah-blah-blah. His eyes took in the way she was dressed from the black top with small white polka-dots to the long black pants with white rings along the bottoms. Her hair was a mess, as if it hadn't been brushed properly and her makeup was a bit messy. Alya didn't look like the Alya he knew and he realized she wasn't wearing her glasses either. Her eyes were void of emotion. Her face looked full of frantic energy, but if the way she kept toeing at the invisible lines and flinched whenever she was forcibly pushed back slightly, he knew that this was something else altogether.

"Oh, Marinette told me all about the calendar and the documents," Adrien explained, smiling as he kept a hand right in the middle of his dad's back. Gabriel didn't move, merely stayed where his son had him. Nooroo was whispering something to him though Adrien couldn't hear it but he stayed calm, his eyes narrowed despite it all. "She's working part time for dad here. He hired her as my personal assisstant and she's starting work as of today, right dad?" Adrien asked and pressed carefully with just his middle finger into the man's back. 

Gabriel got the hint and nodded. "Yes. I believe that Miss Marinette is a good match to my son and will look after his well being while at school. Seeing as all that has been going on, I believe it best that she be his caretaker as he is hers."

Not what Adrien had in mind but if the burning sensation from his chest was anything to go by, the Black Tourmaline was sending back negative energies and Plagg was gripping the chain to help it along. Alya looked shocked and stared before suddenly going calm. "Oh. I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, you have Lila to look after him. He shouldn't need anyone else."

"Then why are you here, Miss Cesaire?"

She froze and stared before gritting her teeth and turning. "I said my piece. How you decide to use this information is up to you. Lila will be waiting at the next shoot for Adrien. And Dupain-Cheng better not show her ugly little face anywhere near him."

Father and son watched her go before Gabriel closed the door and nearly collapsed against it. Adrien held him up, feeling just as winded. Plagg and Nooroo flew from the room, shouting for Marinette and Nathalie to come to the front with Tikki and Duusu. All of them came hurrying and the four human-types sat down on the floor while the Kwami took up residence on their shoulders. "Marinette," Gabriel spoke in a low, dangerous sounding tone. Adrien knew what he was about to do. "You are hereby, from now on, to be Adrien's assisstant and teacher. You will be his caretaker as he will be yours. I will speak with your mother and father about this, but it may be best you move in here as soon as possible."

Marinette blinked at him. "Huh?"

\----

The school was eerily silent and Adrien frowned as he and Marinette walked to their lockers, everyone around them whispering frantically back and forth like all of them were sharing secrets that were better kept behind doors. He likened them to the telephone game. Adrien knew that their secrets would become warped further and further.

Both he and his teached swapped their things carefully, staying with each other as close as possible. Marinette had a new Notepad, one similar to Nathalie's but perfectly designed to Marinette's specifications-pink with small rhinestone hearts and a beautiful Rose Quartz shaped like a heart in the middle. It had all been done in a span of an hour, giving them an hour to get to school afterward. How? Adrien had learned not to question Nathalie's way of doing things. She just seemed able to fulfill any order be they a suggestion or a flat, 'Do it now'.

Of course she took it as the outright flatline. It was crazy fast, but Adrien merely smiled at the wide eyed look of glee when Marinette took the item from Nathalie and the woman shared a conspiratory look with Gabriel. Maybe there was more to this than meets the eye.

The two of them hurried up to their classroom, moving to sit together as they had taken to doing. Madame Bustier watched with knowing eyes, dark circles marked under them. She looked tired and worn out. "I'm guessing what happened had to happen?" she asked, nearing their desk and setting a paper pad on top. Written across it were several runes along with some scratches that Adrien could now read. It was a warning. "I'll mark you as absent due to family business, okay? You two take care to pay attention to class," she said before turning, leaving the paper pad on the desk. Marinette slid it discreetly across the desk to hide between her and Adrien. Adrien translated the more complex runes because Marinette studied base writing compared to the runes that Madame Bustier had written down. Meanwhile, Tikki and Plagg read through the papers easily, finding more notes beneath the others and showing them to Adrien. They were mainly aimed at him and he scowled as he realized the meaning behind the warnings.

Lila was still at large but something was happening in that people seemed to be overlooking her. Not to mention that the rumor mill was full of negatives and slights against the two of them. They seemed aimed at making Adrien a victim and Marinette out to be some sort of...Adrien was not going to repeat it because he had already heard it that morning.

As if summoned by darkness, both Nino and Alya came in. Alya was scowling as Nino rubbed at the back of his head. Alya still looked a mess. Nino looked both hearbroken and disgusted as he walked behind her a few feet unlike their normal togetherness. The minute Alya's empty eyes landed on Marinette, they narrowed and she stomped over to slam her hands on her own desk. 

"You have a lot of nerve sitting beside someone so defenseless, you slut!"

Marinette froze up tightly. Adrien gripped her hand between them and stared Alya down. This was it. This was what Lila had wanted all along and it was finally happening. "Alya what do you mean?" Marinette asked with a frown as she relaxed slightly, fingers curling with Adrien's carefully. The rings they had on knocked into each other. More things made by Adrien, from the cut Hematite to the carefully coiled wires. He had blessed them last night, unknowing of what was going to happen but having some sort of feeling. Then he and Marinette had cross marked them with their energies together as Adrien held onto her hand and placed the carefully made ring for her onto her middle finger. His own was on his forefinger, making it so that when he and Marinette held their hands between them, the stones touched and cleansed each other.

Adrien felt the stone pressed against his collarbone burn and he gripped Marinette's hand just that bit harder, pushing his power through her carefully. Plagg and Tikki were between them in the bag that Marinette always brought. Adrien could practically feel the air twitching with a mix of good and bad luck to keep everything balanced. "Adrien, you need to move," Alya ordered in an all-too-familiar way. "Dupain-Cheng is just trying to get you under her control. You can't let her win. You're becoming a victim of abuse, Adrien. Can't you see that? Think of what that man has been doing to you! Dupain-Cheng is no better and I should know! I've seen everything she's ever written about you!"

"Maybe you should try thinking about what you read, Alya," Adrien spoke sharply, his words edged like a knife. "I am no child. And 'that man' you speak of is my dad. You have no right to speak of him in such a way. And Marinette is my teacher, friend and someone closer to me than Lila could ever know," he doesn't know why he had to say this but he did, "And Lila is a liar who has threatened undo harm to others. I've tried to trust her, but she's too far gone. Besides, if she cares so much, why isn't she showing her face? Why try to get me alone on a set when she could see me at any point while we're in school?"

Alya gaped, her empty eyes flickering with life for a split second before emptying again and she grit her teeth just as before only to turn and walk to Lila's old seat. "You'll listen sooner or later, Adrien. Lila knows what's best for everyone."

Beside him, he could feel Marinette quaking and he leaned to the side, moving his fingers up to her arm then over the sleeve of her top the down to her side and gently lifting the back of her shirt just slightly so his fingers touched her skin. Almost instantly, she calmed and melted into her seat. He began to draw the runes they had come to know all-that-much into her skin again. He was careful and didn't make it obvious. Anyone looking would think Adrien was just trying to coax Marinette into calmness.

That may be true. But what had just happened was going to leave a scar. 

Lila had broken the ties between Marinette and Alya. Whatever she was up to, it was no good.

+++++++++++++++++++++( Elsewhere )++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lila grit her teeth and glared at her phone, which revealed just what she was hating. Her room felt stifling and she glared around her at the numerous creatures she had made. Black magic swirled around them, deep, dark...Satanic.

She smiled suddenly and snapped her phone down on the bed beside her. "Mama!" she called and the woman she had put under her whim came in slowly, eyes empty of life and face full of resignation. "Why don't you go to the Consulate and get some work done? I'll be fine by myself. Oh, and if anyone asks, YOU sent me to a special school to help with my issues. Make it the grandest school you can think of for the gifted and make papers so it looks EXACTLY and EXPLICITLY like I just told you, okay, little puppet?"

The woman she had called mama nodded robotically before turning, not saying a word. Lila didn't like her voice anyway and had ordered her first thing after they had fought and Lila had forced her control upon the woman that she was never to speak unless Lila wanted her to. To say the least, she had not made a noise since then, not a single gasp or mouse-like squeak. She spoke to the people she needed to and got Lila's intent across. She spread Lila's missinformation around, but she didn't stay near her daughter or speak to her. 

The long haired Dark Witch had pressed full power upon her own kin, knowing that any other witch would have felt some sort of backlash at the way she had broken the woman's will. She was no more than a puppet now for Lila. No longer was she her precious 'mama' though Lila still liked to call her that because it seemed to bring hope only to break the woman's spirit further. One step forward, twelve back.

Lila stood and walked to the other side of the room where her mirror was set up and she looked into its depths as she tried again to scry. She had found that trying was harder than she first thought. Meditation was hard enough when she had such a multitude of ideas and thoughts, but she wanted to know what was going on in the world around her and she wanted to know that her work was doing as it should.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had not been seen. Hawkmoth had not sent an Akuma out in over a month. Even so, she needed to know who all three were. Mayura had threatened her by taking place beside the man, and Lila was going to fix that as fast as humanly possible. Her attempts to reach Gabriel Agreste had been in vain and she found that her own body seemed locked from entering the Agreste estate now.

Nathalie had not left the house and neither had the man. Something was up, even as she had watched through her phone the way Adrien and Marinette had left the property but she could not see within, beyond the walls or even get close enough to read the inscriptions on the mail slot. It was infuriating but now Marinette was Adrien's little assisstant? What had made Gabriel Agreste think THAT was a good idea?

Obviously, Marinette was feeding them missinformation of her own. From what she had seen, Lila could tell that Marinette was doing something because Adrien wasn't even as well-kempt looking as normal. And the way he spoke up, as if he knew Lila was listening made her blood boil. 

That little witch was her complete opposite in every way. White magic echoed from the girl where Lila could summon forth demons of her own. Something about Marinette made her an angel to Lila's devil. It made Lila angry and the mirror cracked at the edge slightly before she could stop her fury from spreading. 

Calming herself, she repaired the mirror, turning to walk back to her bed and pull up the information she needed for further dark magic. Her power was growing still and it was going to continue to do so until she had the world on its knees. Right now, her targets were Adrien and Marinette, but she had so much more she wanted. Something screamed inside her to control the very world so she would never be hurt again. No one would ever question her lies because they would be truths. First those two. Then Paris. Then Europe. And then the world before she spread her web and encompassed as much of reality as she could warp.

She needed more power. For that, she would need more darkness. She looked to her little workers who slithered like snakes now because she needed more of that dark energy. And for that she needed whatever Miraculous Hawkmoth had. It seemed that his very essence gave off the right amount of darkness for her needs.

But where was that greasy little worm hiding with his weak blue bird?

Lila smiled again and it sent a ripple of energy through the room, causing her snake-like minions to shiver in fear and slither around in tangled fear.

She just had to be stronger! White magic was for the weak and Green Magic even more so. Her little puppet Cesaire was a true testament to this. The girl had enough energy to build onto Lila's own stores even if it had to be mutated. Once the magic left the girl, she became a shell of what she was. Sure, Cesaire still tried to fight every once and a while, but a little slap of sorts would send her mind back where it belonged. 

All of Marinette's friends were going to meet that end. But Lila had work to do.

A giggle left the brown haired dark witch. "I'll squash you and then I'll have Adrien as my own. He will be my king!"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++( Francois Duponte )++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Adrien watched over Marinette for the rest of the school day and when it was over, they walked to Marinette's home. Wards surrounded the place and Adrien gripped Marinette's hand because they were thicker than before even as customers laughed and spoke as they walked in and out. Sabine greeted them with a smile that quaked.

"Gabriel explained everything," she murmured as Tom closed up shoppe and the four of them walked to the back. Sitting at a table, they all stared at the center but Marinette held quick to Adrien's hand when he tried to pull away. She seemed to naturally gravitate toward him now. "All of your things will be moved within the next two days. Your computer has been wiped but Miss Nathalie made sure there was a backup of everything. Nothing is lost."

Warm green eyes looked to Marinette, who looked near tears. "You didn't touch the Altar?"

Sabine shook her head. "It is the one thing not boxed up. We..." her voice cracked. "We set up a new Altar of sorts for you in our apartment. We hope you'll at least come check in, won't you?"

Adrien felt Marinette's hand tighten with his and he smiled. "Of course. We would never spirit away your daughter like that," he assured and grinned at the watery laugh Sabine and Tom shared at the wording. "Don't worry too much. She'll be well looked after and nothing will harm her as long as she'll have me."

"We have your word then," Tom agreed with a smile of his own. "Look after her and look after each other, okay?"

"You got it."

\----

Dismantalling the Altar was both sad and renewing. Adrien knew she would be moving it to his room near his own. The thrill of sharing a space warmed him. Sharing a bed with someone had changed him and he felt lighter thinking of being able to hold her each night and wake with her each morning in his arms. 

Everything was done and the large white and pink box was loaded with three others similar to it into the back of a small truck that Nathalie surprised them with seeing as she was in the driver's seat wearing a cap that hid her face when lowered. With Lila at large, it was a clear sign that Nathalie wasn't stupid. The once-sickly woman was now showing off talents that Adrien himself had no idea of. As he and Marinette climbed into the seats beside her, Duusu poked her head out with a smile and tear filled eyes. "Ready to go home?"

Marinette giggled and nodded. "Yeah," she said and Adrien felt his heart beat fast as she locked her fingers once again with his. "I'm ready to go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was difficult and went through many iterations before I finally decided, screw it, and here we are. Some things have been going on in my life that I'd really rather not talk about but eh, there's the big sickness going around and everyone's stuck inside. I've gone through several stories I work on, not just this one, and one I hope to publish one day is entering the middle of its third novel. If anyone's interested in Reaper Lore or things to do with Angels that do NOT HAVE TO DO WITH MADOKA MAGICA, please share your thoughts. I'd love to know what others believe have to do with them.
> 
> Speaking of Madoka Magica, I honestly hope everyone is seeing the open similarities I made to try to explain Lila's reasonings. She is the darkness to Marinette's light. And even though I loath the idea of so much as connecting the great and beautiful Homura to Lila, this is the closest I can get. The only difference is that Lila is after Marinette's own light, Adrien, who I guess is one half of a whole? It's a lot to explain but I hope everyone figures out the little clues I've placed here and there. 
> 
> By the way, speaking of clues, here's a little something to think on! Lila wants to spread her power beyond the mortal world. And the four with our resident Green Witch, her student and the two adults on their little journey seem to be able to sense something...
> 
> What could this mean for the gods and goddesses of the known and unknown? If the god and goddess of destruction and creation are feeling twinges and Gabriel himself can somewhat feel things, what could possibly be coming?
> 
> I leave you with this and good tidings. Have a good day or night and stay safe!


	8. 8 - Not So New Home and Adrien Gives News About His Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life is warm and gentle when you let it. Sometimes we feel so safe that we forget the outside world and just want to be with those we trust. Sometimes it means leaving behind others we love and want to protect from the world, but sometimes it means leaving them to protect them. Marinette and Adrien are growing close and though they don't truly understand what's happening, the world is changing around them, and soon nothing will be the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lazy sort of filler that I needed to fill in a missing piece! Plus it's the one chapter before the story picks up a bit of speed and more things begin to happen. Check the bottom for details!

8 - Not So New Home and Adrien Gives News About His Mother

Adrien watched wide eyed as Marinette and Tikki rebuilt the altar just across from his own. It was very colorful compared to his own, which was rather dark compared to hers. He looked at his own a moment before looking back at the new one. While it had crystals and candles and tools similar to his own, he noticed she had other things. Like a full half an abalone shell and he blinked several times when he noticed the pearls and small crystals lining the edge. He wracked his brain trying to remember what pearls meant and which crystals those were, but from this angle, he couldn't tell.

Another thing he noticed was the way she arranged everything a certain way, working in tandem with Tikki. The tools were strangely pink and bore more pearls and crystals. And as Tikki wiggled her way around, moving the tools to places, Adrien took note of the fact that they seemed to glow when she touched them. They're pink coloring also seemed to react so maybe she had blessed the paint used to decorate them? But why?

He waited until the pair finished and Marinette stood slowly, walking away slowly, and smiled when she turned with a smile of her own. "All done?"

She shook her head with a grin. "Never done. But I feel at peace. I hope maman and papa are going to be okay..." Marinette whispered and clutched at her chest.

Adrien stood and neared her, pulling her into a tight hug. "It's okay. You built wards especially for them and you can visit if you feel the need to. Don't think of this as a punishment. It's only as temporary as you and I will need it to be."

"What if I...?" Marinette began but was cut off by Plagg shouting in the background.

"TIKKI GOT TO PUT TOGETHER THE ALTAR!? NO FAIR!"

Both teens slumped in each others' hold. Turning quickly, they watched as Plagg looked around with wide eyes. Tikki was giggling as she floated over to him. "Plagg, I work with Marinette in her correspondants and work. I am the Goddess of Creation and we were able to find a way to commune in a very functional way."

Plagg struck a pose. "I can be just as functional! Just because I'm the God of Destruction and Bad Luck does it mean anything! I can turn Bad Luck into Good Luck just as easily as connecting with a crystal or stone. Tell them Adrien!"

Confusion filled Marinette's face but a look of dawning came to Adrien's own face. "You know, he has a point," he said and pulled slowly and gently from Marinette to look down at his own altar. The lack of color was glaring at this point, from the almost all black tools he had collected himself from around the mansion that called out to him to the darker stones and crystals. He might have amethyst and base crystals he used to help heal, but, from all his working, he had used a lot of the more colorful ones that were smaller to make the jewelry he and Marinette wore off and on. 

The glaringly obvious piece though was the black candle he had been drawn to and had carved unique runes he had learned of into it. He remembered how every time he had lit it, he felt a sense of relief. As it burned, it seemed to go out on its own, not guttering or sputtering or even drowning in its own wax. The wick had stayed tall no matter how much the candle burned and the candle itself was barely touched beyond the runes that were carved very carefully into the sides.

"Mari, I have a few questions," Adrien said, turning to her and she neared but did not enter the unique circle both their altars paired. Where Marinette had placed small clear quartz around her altar in a circle while marking the connecting points with a soft pink salt, he had drawn marks and things he had learned first from her then elsewhere and from anything he could get his hands on. It was as if they were two unique pieces. Student or not, he seemed to have developed his own form of magic. "Starting with my color choices..."

\--

"...So you mean you're naturally drawn to anything that screams of protection, healing and the curing of good luck even though everything you have is centrally black or considered dark?" Marinette asked in confusion before looking to Tikki. "I don't think I've heard of this happening before. I mean, Dark Witches tend to use dark colors. But if what you and Plagg are saying is true, then what you are using is definitely White Magic with connections to Green Magic. Which once again conflicts..." Marinette whispered and began to look pained. "This is making my head hurt. I've never heard of what you're describing or why that candle is doing what it is. And your rune work is something I've never actually actively worked in. It may have been a bit since this all started, but you sound like you are already working well along on your own."

"Well," Tikki spoke up with a smile. "I think he's chosen a route that works well for him. Black can be as evil or as good as white can be. It's why we use pearls, Adrien. White pearls specifically stand for purity and connection to happiness. And the pink coloring that Marinette used is a very specific one. It stands for innocence and goodness. It's a warm protection sort and the special paint is blessed as you believed so. Marinette didn't choose pearls and pink things just because they're pretty, she chose them because of their connection to white magic. All the colorful herbs and things she keeps on her altar, from the dried flowers to the crystallized leaves, are connected to her Green Magic. She usually focuses on Kitchen Magic and Green Magic specifically because it calls to her. So, the main question isn't what does it mean as it appears but what does it mean to you?"

Adrien blinked in shock at the information and Tikki's sudden pressing. He had never really thought about it and tried to think over what sort of magic he preferred or called to him. In truth, he liked working like Marinette did and even with all his work in runes and crystals, he preferred moving around with herbs and getting his hands dirty. Just thinking on it made him a bit pink because Marinette had never noticed when his hands had been covered in ash and chalk because he always did a mini cleanse while she slept through his work or had been focused on something else while he did his own work. They weren't exactly sharing their own spells even with the learning and teaching. Adrien liked to work in his own little world just as Marinette was the same way.

"So, what do you think, Kid?" Plagg asked, floating in front of Adrien. "You seem a lot like Marinette to me even with all the work you put into the really weird things. And you like cooking."

The pink darkened considerably when Marinette looked to him startled. "You like cooking, Adrien?"

"I...Don't have very much experience but I like to learn how to make things," Adrien admitted. "And I'm not limited to the kitchen. I like gardening too, even though dad barely knows about it because I'm so careful. He thinks the roses are tended by the gardeners and that they get picked by them and put into vases seemingly by the same people...but it usually is me doing all of it."

Marinette blinked several times before leaning forward. "You like cooking and gardening but hide it all?"

He nodded weakly. "Yeah. I am a model after all and bad nails and callouses can really destroy a good image."

"Nathalie, call the gardeners and order twenty boxes of every herb they can find," they heard from the door and both turned with their Kwami to see Gabriel standing there looking stunned beside a quickly typing Nathalie. "And flowers. We're going to need a lot of flowers. And make sure the cook stocks the freezers and fridges. Also, we're going to need at least twelve herb boxes similar to the one that Marinette brought with her. Cast iron pans, any knives or spoons, cuttlery, anything Adrien may need-!"

"Dad, easy!" Adrien croaked and stood with Marinette from where they had been seated at his desk which now had another worktop for Marinette (once again, Adrien did not question where or why Nathalie had it but it was there, pastel pink and white with small flower designs all over everything). "You really don't have to-!"

"But I do, Adrien," Gabriel spoke quickly and looked to Marinette. "As his assisstant, you will look after his work and help him. I've seen you take care of yourself and the various soaps and things you have brought with you from home. Would you consider helping him along?"

Both teens stared at him stunned before Marinette grinned and nodded. "Of course. It would be an honor!"

Adrien could only watch on in shock, awe, wonder and a little bit of concern as Marinette pulled out her new pad and worked with Nathalie to order everything that Gabriel was going over along with anything that Marinette believed would help as well. He wasn't being yelled at. He wasn't being ordered to stop thinking of things besides his weight and diet. Heck, he wasn't being told and demanded upon to stop doing anything he wanted to do because 'I know best for you, Adrien'. Nope. His dad (once coldly considered and called father alone) was now freaking out because he seemed to think he had deterred Adrien from something amazing.

It hit Adrien suddenly and nearly knocked him off his feet as he stumbled into the computer desk, catching the four little beings of nature who hurried over to check on him while the human-types were busy hurrying through the items they needed to get. "Adrien, are you okay?" Nooroo asked, reaching out to touch his forehead. "You look ill."

"I'm living in the Twilight Zone," he croaked and all four Kwami blinked in confusion before they laughed at the reason behind his sudden freak out. He knew they realized he didn't look ill from sickness or from fear. He was just so happy and confused he felt sick!

This was both humbling and numbing. Adrien was finally being given something he wanted to learn instead of being forced to do. 

Happiness that felt like an illness shook through him and made him feel hot and cold. And there was Plagg, ever the charmer, pointing out the redness of his cheeks and that he looked high. Did he want some camambert? Adrien made a point of saying, "Plagg, I love you, but if you try to make me eat camambert again without my permission, I swear I will punt you as far across Paris as I can with Tikki's permission and the Ladybug Miraculous."

\---------

Hours later found Adrien bustling around the kitchen. He knew a few things but if it was like mixing herbs to make sweet smells or creating something from nothing for popourii, then this was something he felt comfortable with. Marinette hovered nearby the whole time, sitting on counters or leaning against them to watch him. 

His knife cuts weren't perfect, just as his gemstone cutting wasn't, and he tended to make a huge mess that he resolutely cleaned up while telling Marinette he didn't mind the mess because cleaning was just a part of the creation process. She smiled happily and nodded in agreement. The proud look on her face and in her eyes made him want to weep with happiness.

His dad and Nathalie stood at the doorway, watching in awe as Adrien worked away with little (if any) help from Marinette. The man and woman looked highly impressed whenever Adrien snuck looks at them without them knowing and they smiled encouragingly whenever he was caught. Blushing, he looked back to his work. Adrien was going to prove himself. 

And with that, dinner was done. He had tried to create something that echoed his feelings and it smelled pretty good so it had to at least taste good, right? 

"So, what have you made for us, son?" Gabriel asked, looking to the covered crock and the long braising pan that was still covered as well.

Adrien lifted the lid off the crock with a smile. "This is a vegetarian stew with yams and three types of onions. I added rosemary, thyme and pepper to create the broth before the thickening process. There are also four types of carrots from white carrots to brown carrots, classic orange and purple," he explained before lifting the lid off the braising pan to reveal his shining glory, which Marinette had worriedly watched him carefully cut with a big knife and roll. "And this is a pork roll full of just about every herb that I think would meld well with it. It was basted in a garlic and pepper butter sauce while I also baked Red Rose Potatoes, Yellow Butter Potatoes and Lavender Potatoes along with it to help add flavor. Underneath is a collection of parsnips, celery and I tried a hand at some riced cauliflower mixed with broccoli and turnips!"

The three were stunned into silence but Plagg was crowing with delight while Tikki and Nooroo were smiling, saying, "It looks delicious!" and Duusu was crying tears of joy because, "It smells so good!"

Marinette snapped out of her shock first and smiled widely. "Why don't we dig in?"

Nathalie and Gabriel broke free of the their open surprise to hurriedly take bits and pieces of everything Adrien had made. Like was said, it wasn't perfectly cut and it didn't look exactly like something you'd see in a restaraunt. However, where it lacked in professionality, it made up in smell, creation and flavor. It was very rustic and all three human-types melted into their seats while the Kwami helped themselves to as many things as they could fill their bellies with. Being small, it was assumed they weren't going to be able to eat much. However, by the end of the meal and Adrien helping himself to some of his own creations (which he was shocked to find actually tasted amazing!) all four gods had eaten their own share while all three, from the witch to the two humes, were gushing their happiness and Gabriel looked ready to cry.

"I've been holding you back for so long!"

Adrien was so proud but blushed and squirmed in his seat through the praise.

After all the cleanup (in which Adrien made a point of cleaning himself, not caring when they offered and asked if he needed help because according to him, 'I made it, you ate, now I need to make sure everything is cleared of energy!'), all of them gathered in the living area and Adrien smiled as he sat beside Marinette on the floor and the Kwami told tales of the cosmos. As if suddenly remembering something, or someone, Adrien felt his good mood sober. 

He must have looked ill again in a different way because now Plagg was looking at him again but with worry. "What's wrong Kid? That's the look you get when you're upset."

At this, everyone fell silent and looked to him. Adrien sighed and nodded. "Yeah. There is something wrong. And it isn't going to be easy to explain. Duusu is easy but the second part..."

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked and Nathalie clutched at Duusu as she flung her tiny body at the woman's cheek but surprisingly not hard enough to hurt. "What is going on, Adrien?"

Silence. Adrien took a deep breath. And then sighed. "Mama can't be woke up. Not yet."

More silence. It was obvious they were waiting on answers.

Continuing on pained him but Adrien did so as he explained about the sins of his mother, how she was repenting in her own way and she was thankful for Gabriel looking after her body while her soul healed and fixed all her mistakes on the not-so-Earthly plane. Apparently Gabriel understood better than Adrien had thought and nodded solemnly with a smile. But when Adrien got to the nitty gritty of how deep the destruction and pain of bringing her back would cause and break the already tipping balance of the universe, the man's smile fell and he paled so much that his already light skin looked sallow and sickly. 

Adrien quickly assured that she could still come back. By healing Duusu alone would fix one sin and by fulflilling her sentence with their help on this side, she would be able to wake. She was thankful for Marinette being there and Nathalie for looking after all of them. Adrien even looked to Nathalie pointedly. "You are as much my mother as she is and she hopes you will continue to help me and dad through all this as well as Marinette. Don't think of yourself as a replacement. You are a part of this family just as Marinette has become a part of it now too."

Nathalie flushed with happiness. "I'm so glad," she whispered and held Duusu like a treasure before looking to Gabriel. "I hope you will continue to be both my friend and boss, correct?"

"Now Nathalie," Gabriel spoke in a sharp tone, "You are by far more than a friend and even as your boss, you are more like a sister and closer to me than any besides my own son and now Marinette. Don't think of yourself as something less than that. You are more than you know."

The woman stared at him wide eyed, her hands falling. "Sister? You...you mean it?" she whispered, leaning into his space. Adrien had never seen her so animated, her eyes wide with some sort of emotion she never showed and her glasses fogging as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm really a part of this family?"

Gabriel loosened his collar and turned to her with a smile that Adrien had not seen in years. "Only if you want to be. I have no objections and neither does Adrien from what I can tell. And Emillie gave her own blessings from the sound of it..."

No one expected what happened next. Nathalie's bottom lip trembled and she began to shake before a sob left her and she launched at Gabriel, hugging him tightly around the neck. She babbled into his shoulder as he held her back just as tight and from what Adrien could make out, she basically said in hysterics, "That's all I've ever wanted! Everything I've ever needed is here!"

A hand pressed to Adrien's knee and he looked to the side away from the two friends as Marinette smiled at him. "You said part of the healing of sins is to heal Duusu. How do we so?"

Now Adrien looked puzzled himself. "I don't know. Mother didn't tell me and even she seemed unable to grasp how to do it if that's the case. She's trying to heal her sins on her end but apparently you and I connecting has somehow given us a leg up in this. Of all the times I spoke to her, which has been a handful of times, she basically praised you like she did father and Nathalie. Something about you really made her happy and she trusts you even though neither of you have met. What I'm more worried about is the darkness."

At this, both Nathalie and Gabriel pulled away from each other slightly, the man keeping an arm on her shoulders while the woman took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. Adrien was staring at Marinette in a way he never dared before. It was with a pressure he let Chat look at Ladybug with but never outside the mask and never at anyone else, not even Kagami.

"You and I are the light. Lila is the darkness. You are Ladybug and I am Chat Noir. Hawkmoth is virtually healed and Mayura is out of commission as well. But that doesn't mean we are still needed. Knowing this, Lila is probably trying to use whatever means necessary to hurt you and get to me. We don't know her power level nor do we know what is going on with everything to do with her. Chat Noir loved Ladybug more than anything, even when Kagami came into the picture, he and I couldn't stop loving her and now you in turn. I will ask you this now because our battle is beginning and we've got a lot of work to do," he said before coughing into his fist and sitting up straight while messing up his hair. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, opened his eyes and stared into wide bluebell eyes. "Will you be my lady? In both forms and will you stay with me no matter what?"

Marinette stared before smiling softly and reaching out to take his hands in hers. "Minou. I have loved you in both forms but never knew how to handle it. I thought my love of Chat was a denial to my love of you, so I as Ladybug always told Chat no. But knowing now that you are one in the same, I can finally tell the one and one that make up the two people I love more than anything that yes, I will be your lady. In both forms. And I will stay by your side as long as you will have me, no matter what."

Adrien felt ready to break down but at that moment a pulse went through him and he blinked, looking to their linked hands. Marinette followed his gaze and her own eyes widened when they both looked to each other in shock. Small marks, one of yin and yang had appeared on their hands. A black tear with a white dot for Adrien, and a white tear with a black dot for Marinette. What was more was that both tear shapes were on their marriage hands and seemed to finish each other when the pair brought their hands across but did not release them between them.

Darkness and Light. Destruction and Creation. Bad and Good Luck. 

"I think mama had some thought that this would happen," Adrien deadpanned and Marinette burst out laughing as Gabriel and Nathalie began to shout along with the Kwami about balance and 'HOLY HECK IN A HANDBASKET!'.

\-------

Later that night, Adrien was all smiles as Nathalie brushed out Marinette's hair while sitting near the footend of the bed and Gabriel sat speaking with his son near the headend about the woman they would help no matter what without breaking the balance of the world.

"When did you even find the time to speak with her as often as you did?" his dad asked with a frown. "You have only slept at your altar twice from what Marinette has told us or we have seen and you haven't been doing much over there besides working with your candles and stones."

Adrien looked thoughtful as he tried to think of a way to explain how his mother had been contacting him in some sort of secret. "Well, you know how Marinette has been sleeping in bed with me? Every time I hold her, and sometimes beyond that to calm her down, I draw runes into her back. They are just protection and sigils of hope and luck as well as love. When I finish, I get really tired and when I finally fall asleep with her in my arms, and it has to be in this bed," he pointed out, patting the comforter he sat on, "It's like mom can speak with me about various things. We talk about you, Nathalie, Marinette, the Kwami and even magic she has learned while healing herself to try fixing the sins she has caused."

"Your mother...she knows magic?" the man asked, looking to his son with a stunned gaze. "Is that where you have learned all these runes from?"

"Yeah," Adrien said with a nod. "It's hard to explain but she draws them on my skin with her fingers for me to memorize by feel alone. Usually on my shoulders or on my neck. You see, we rarely look each other in the eye. It's part of the unspoken rule of her punishment. Every time I try to lift my head from her lap where it often rests, I feel this heaviness. I've seen her face twice in the whole time I've been speaking with her. Both times gave me a headache and I had to do little purifying sessions to fix whatever it was I did. I miss being unable to see her face, but I know it's her at least."

Gabriel smiled, tears in his eyes behind his glasses before he pulled them off and rubbed away the water that threatened to slide down his cheeks. "I see. I'm just glad you and her are connecting. It's too bad we cannot speak. I miss her."

His son reached out to grip his hand. "And she misses you. But it's another part of her healing of the sins and repenting. She betrayed you by stealing Duusu and in turn broke not just one but several of the laws of nature. Some of the sins have been fixed. By me studying my magic and speaking with her, she has repaired the bonds between us. That's one sin gone. By giving me information and things that have helped to heal both of us and Nathalie? That's another sin paid for. Marinette being with me has allowed her to reach out and help us. Stopping you from doing something that could have not only destroyed you but the world as a whole? Dad, she's already paid for so many sins, it is almost possible her repenting is nearing the end of its list!"

"How do we fix this? How do we help her further?" Gabriel asked, putting back on his glasses and trying not to cry further.

"Five things. We heal Duusu, however hard it is and try to keep the price we pay at a minimum," Adrien said, holding up his opposing hand so he could keep the other hold his dad's hand. He held up two fingers. "We need to build onto my power and Marinette's. Somehow that is fixing the balance. Three," he said and lifted another finger, "You need to repent yourself for you are one of her greater sins. You're already on the road there and Nathalie needs to follow. You being Hawkmoth and her being Mayura broke a lot of laws and by nearly corrupting Nooroo, you hurt a lot of people. However, once we've fixed Duusu's Miraculous and have been able to get her back with you and Nooroo with Nathalie, that will be another sin paid. Four," Adrien spoke and his eyes narrowed, "We need to fix the balance, period. Lila is disrupting it and if the way Alya is behaving and looked, it isn't too much to assume that Lila is trying to do something that will break this world apart. Bye-bye Lila means a fourth sin fixed on our end."

"You never held up a fifth finger," Gabriel whispered and it made Adrien's face ease into happiness.

"Because number five isn't a sin and it isn't a fixing necessarily. I like to call the fifth and final piece 'Divine Intervention'," he explained. "While we learn more about magic and raise everything, we need to connect with our friends and find the missing Miraculous along with the ones that Marinette already knows the locations of. Alya is still inside that body that we saw. I've seen life in her eyes before she was forced to bite it back. So number five is simple. Build a Miraculous Force as well as a Magical Army to fight back Lila."

"Divine Intervention is connection with all the gods that I turned against you," the man said with a nod. "I'll try to locate them as well. I may not be Hawkmoth but I can still see into some emotional hearts. If I find an energy, I'll tell you."

"The ultimate question lies in how to fix Duusu's Miraculous," Adrien grumbled, gripping his dad's hand a bit tighter. "Mama said that it has to do with Marinette and me connecting somehow but she never specified. She promised it has to be a completely pure and innocent ceremony and she said it has to be of equality between us and our Kwami. Which means Tikki and Plagg have to be included. The marks on our hands mean something and I think they connect with it. Whatever 'it' is."

Nodding, Gabriel patted his son's hand with his opposing one and stood slowly. "Alright. I'll begin research into all of this. Nathalie and I make a pretty good team after all."

"Got that right," spoke the woman and the two males turned to see Marinette ready for bed and Nathalie standing with her hands on her hips in a rather defiant-for-her stance. "You two need to get to bed," she said, shooing Marinette to sit beside Adrien. "Let the adults handle this for now. It's been a long day and it's almost 1:40AM while you both have school tomorrow. Not to mention the first photoshoot in over a month is scheduled for this Saturday," she said, noting off the top of her head while looking to Gabriel. "According to what Miss Cesaire said, Lila Rossi will be at that shoot. It's currently Tuesday. That gives all of us, Kwami, witch and human alike, about four days to work on a plan to deal with her. Unlike some very badly ended books, this might end up being either annoying or dangerous. Marinette needs to be protected and both Gabriel and I will be on hand along with Nooroo and Duusu. Which means we need to heal Duusu at least by Friday."

"Research for us, sleep for you four," Gabriel insisted and shooed a worried looking Tikki and a sleepy looking Plagg to the pair on the bed. "We'll look for more answers seeing as the Guardian is no longer with us. However, we do have the book of Heroes and that can help more than you know."

Marinette bit her lip before looking between the two adults as Adrien was doing. "How will you read the book though?"

Nooroo smiled as he popped up with Duusu, who was crying again but was smiling. "Don't worry. They have the two of us and I have translated some things for Gabriel before. Solving the magic within the book will not be easy but we will figure it out. Give us until Thursday and at dinner we will tell you our findings. Nathalie will keep you updated on the matter though through the pad, correct?" he asked, looking to the woman who nodded.

She looked to the pad that Marinette kept on the table nearby and had used numerously since they got home earlier that afternoon. "You've already figured out a lot of things, including how to work the pad I gave you. Just check your mail and texts. I spoke with your teacher and Caline has agreed to make sure that you have no trouble in class should I need to send you anything. We've even exchanged messaging bots for our computers that wipe after each session. She'll alert you if anything happens. Something about libraries and working for a custodian?" she said and suddenly looked confused. "I didn't quite understand but she said you would, Marinette."

"The two libraries at the school are protected by sigils of a sort from many eons ago when the first witches appeared in Paris," Marinette explained. "Although the school really isn't that old in comparison to the age gap, the symbols are under the school and carry power up to the rooms that are marked by similar sigils. Madame Bustier and several other teachers empower the libraries every three months and keep any hidden information from being destroyed or passed into the wrong hands. You just have to know what to look for. As for the custodian," she giggled and looked to Adrien. "You know that one working custodian who went totally nuts and made everyone he captured with his powers clean the school and city? He is actually one of the few humes who can see and speak the words of magicks. He supplies some things for us from time to time and I've actually had to work with him a few times to help clean and purify parts of the school."

Gabriel looked shocked. "I akumatized someone with magical knowledge and didn't know it?"

Nodding, Marinette giggled again. "You've actually akumatized a lot of witches in Paris. A lot of our friends, though not all, have magical power. One in particular..." she whispered before her eyes widened and she looked to Adrien sharply. "Luka! He isn't a witch but he's able to connect to the powers of souls! He can hear heartsongs!"

"Okay," Adrien mumbled and tried to think of how that might help. She must have seen his confusion because she grabbed his marked hand with her own marked one and held them up. He blinked before a small, "Oh," of realization came from him. "He can see what connects us and possibly why you and I are the ones who can fix Duusu! But does he know of the Miraculous?"

"He's held Sass before, remember?" Marinette asked with a smile. "He promised that even though he and I aren't together in a way he wishes we could have been, he knows that my heartsong reaches for another. Maybe if he sees us connecting like this and we can get Juleka to help, we, along with any knowledge from Gabriel, Nathalie, Nooroo, and Duusu, can figure out how to repair the Peacock Miraculous!"

Adrien wanted to nod enthusiastically but it came out as a sleepy hum and nod before he was yawning. Marinette and Nathalie shared a smile while Gabriel shook his head and patted the blonde on the head. "Bed. Both of you have a plan of action now and as do we. You still have school and it's nearing the five-hour-till mark. Get some rest and we'll see you four in the morning." With that, the four (Gabriel, Nooroo, Nathalie and Duusu) left the room while shutting off the lights.

Nodding again before they closed the door, Adrien crawled across the bed and shimmied beneath the covers before lifting them and Marinette hurried under with him. Tikki and Plagg curled up on a pillow nearby and both teens soon drifted off, the boy sinking deep into his mind even as he stroked familiar protective and soothing runes into Marinette's back, his fingers hiking up the back of her shirt as he moved. He wouldn't be able to rest properly until his spell was done for the night.

Mercifully, Marinette fell asleep, the candles on his altar lit and his mind drifted away just as they began to go out one by one.

Soon enough, sleep overcame him and Adrien was back in the flower field, fingers clinging to a familiar pair of pants as a soft song drifted over him. It was something his mother did when he was too tired for thought or learning. In this realm he was safe and he knew as long as he was safe here, then Marinette was safe in his arms. 

Both of the women he loved and wanted to protect and save were with him.

And rest blessedly tightened her arms around him and his world tilted to something that felt just right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Gabriel. I always like to imagine what would happen if the baddie who isn't so bad compared to other problem makers had a chance to change. With Nathalie and Gabriel having some closure and Adrien and Marinette having their own form (I love the cuddles), the Kwami are about to enter the scene. Sure, we've seen Tikki and Plagg acting on their usual behaviors and both Duusu and Nooroo seem like their normal selves. But what they come from is a long line of other worldly beings, gods and goddesses in their own rights. And as such, each watches over a certain aspect of life. Tikki and Plagg seem straight forward, but what would happen if Tikki finally began to snap and Plagg actually stopped being the little brat he is? How would Adrien react to his Kwami, and the one he considers close like a brother through all this, suddenly breaking down? Nooroo and Duusu can help in some ways with powers of their own. How will this affect the story as a whole and cause the magical community within Paris to shift as the Kwami begin to bring Marinette's innocent Green Magic into deeper fruition and Adrien's strange White Magic begins to morph?
> 
> Also....What is Lila up to in all this time? Keep reading to find out!
> 
> Stay safe and I hope everyone is having fun reading this little story of mine :)


	9. 9 - Beloved Friends Swallowed By Darkness Spreading, Awakened By Good Karma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darkness comes to call as before, but someone has come along with the messenger from before. And their message changes when Adrien's magic does something...explosive. Marinette feels like she is falling, unable to catch herself, so out of it that she can't speak truly on her own! With a little help from a Kwami, a warning from another and sudden madness befalling the most level headed of one of them, Adrien's magic begins to open doors to worlds unseen!
> 
> And Lila...Will she regret? Or will she keep moving with her sinister plot?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wondered why the edit was in the summary from those who read previously, this chapter is the first in a small series that help to center the worlds of the Kwami! I wanted them to have magic all their own, I mean they are technically gods and goddesses of some form, correct? Check the bottom for further details into my thought process!

9 - Beloved Friends Swallowed By Darkness Spreading, Awakened By Good Karma

Wednesday morning came bright, early and not so welcoming. Luckily for Adrien and Marinette, it was a late start day, meaning they had to be to class by 9:00AM but would sadly get out later at around 4:00PM, meaning less time to try figuring out things. Marinette let Adrien pull her along through the morning, having woken at nearly 5:30AM on the dot. She got dressed in another Gabriel Brand exclusive but made sure she wore something of her own flair to liven it up. She might love Gabriel like an uncle but heaven help the day her designer brain let another control every aspect of her own fashion.

She put her hair up in its space buns as she had been wont-to-do these past days and put in pretty little moon clips that Adrien had decorated with some pearls he got from seemingly nowhere (yet another Agreste Mansion Secret that Marinette could not solve let alone understand how Adrien found time to make them seeing as they had only talked about pearls yesterday!) carefully in the middles of the buns facing out. She sort of wished she had a way of marking the middle so she had all three moons but, eh, what can you do when you look cute as a button already?

The light pink top was flared with lace, which she paired with a loose white dress underneath. Not only that, she wore a pair of lace trimmed white capris with a pair of socks she had worked incredibly hard on. Both socks were carefully speckled by small flower designs similar to her signature symbol but had small stars in the middle of each flower. Not only that, but the slightly heeled flats she wore were made of a thin, see-through material similar to jelly kinds, but it was thicker and the heels were made so they wouldn't hurt her feet while also showing off her beautiful socks.

Blessed sunshine, Adrien passed her a necklace and bracelet set she had seen him working on a few days ago along with an earring clip. It fit perfectly at the curve of her ear and didn't interfere with her Miraculous. All three were made of some form of twine and knotted over and over and over... Oh, they were made with intent! She looked them over with appreciation as the ring slid on easily even with the carefully made twine of knots and perfectly tied-in crystals. A smile crossed Marinette's lips as she saw the heart shaped rose quartz tied into her necklace as the focal point along with several carefully tied knots. 

The boy blushed as Marinette turned and asked him to tie the necklace on before they put on the bracelet. Once in a nice, tight, but easily undo-able knot that she knew he placed a gentle intent into because he muttered under his breath as he did not one, not two, but three little ties and undid one gently before patting her back. He blushed darker as she held out her left hand where she had placed the ring on her middle finger. Tilting her head with a smile, she watched as he repeated the process. Three ties, muttered promises, and then one undone while the other two kept it in place.

Small crystals of various sorts were knotted into the twine and it looked beautifully done. Not only that, but it looked like a pro had done it despite the somewhat messily carved and tumbled stones. She smiled when once again, she managed to find a heart shaped rose quartz amongst the smaller pieces. "You really love me, don't you?" she whispered and his face went from hot pink to fire engine red.

"I-I-I-!!!" Adrien stuttered and Marinette put on the Ladybug charm, striking a pose similar to her alter ego and giggling into her hand against the ring, which itself was marked by a mismatch of loveful-meaning stones and crystals but a heart shaped rose quartz stuck out right in the center, near the top of the white tear on her hand. He stomped his foot and pointed at her as she had seen Chat do several times when he was both annoyed and flustered by her. The blush on his face gave him away even when he tried to look snarky and his lips were twisted in a pout. "I will kiss your sweet beautiful face, DON'T TEST ME!" he grit out before turning to grab his bag and hurry from the room, still blushing, with Plagg hurrying after, shouting for camambert and a cookie for his sugar cube.

Marinette blushed but smiled, picking up her own bag from where it rested along with the pad. She held it gently and carefully before slipping it into the secret compartment that Nathalie had sewn in for her. The zipper and stitch was perfect and carefully detailed so it looked like any other piping along the back of her bag. Slipping her newly fixed hip pouch with a snap at her waist, she looked to Tikki, who smiled back. "I really, really love him," Marinette whispered and the pair giggled together before both witch and Kwami hurried from the room for breakfast.

Tikki hid however and Marinette slowed when she heard shouting and a familiar voice out in the hall. "Is that Alya?" Tikki whispered in her ear from the collar of the pink lace top. It was fixed just enough that it allowed for Kwami to hide. "Why is she here now?"

"Sounds like the same thing as before," Marinette whispered, moving along the wall slowly, carefully and sliding into the study only to blink when she heard another voice. It was a voice she had not heard in a long while, probably because she had been busy with something her mother was up to. "Kagami?"

+++

Adrien frowned as he watched the two girls before him unable to cross the threshold of the mansion. He and Plagg had been heading to the dining room when there was a pounding at the door. His dad had been walking from the opposite side and had shared a moment of blinking before the man had hurried to the door while the witchling had once again hidden behind a collumn to listen, just assuming it was Alya again from the way the pounding came fast and jerky sounding.

Imagine his surprise when he felt not one but two blows to his chest from his hematite, which burned so hot he hissed and lifted it quickly from his shirt even though the heat wasn't physical but in a more emotional sense. Plagg stared at the smoking black triangle a moment before looking to Adrien. "Should I do something?" Plagg asked in a soft, scared tone. Plagg? Scared? Oh man, someone was going to be hurt. Adrien felt something lick at the inside of his chest that burned up his throat. He held it back however. He couldn't worry Plagg further.

"Yeah, we're going to throw some darkness back three-fold," Adrien whispered, shoving the still smoking crystal into his bag where he had made a purification pocket just for this reason. Darkness was not about to get through and the minute the hematite was inside, it stopped smoking and began to pulse. Pulling from the same pocket a different crystal, he tied it, not around his throat, but around his wrist so that it rested on its choord perfectly hidden in his palm. Plagg realized what he needed to do and hid just behind Adrien's unmoving arm, staying out of sight as Adrien neared his father and lifted the limb, pressing the stone carefully against the middle of the man's back between his fingers as Plagg moved up to float just behind Gabriel.

Kagami stood beside Alya, her eyes eerie and milky like Alya's, which was just plain freaky because her eyes were usually such a pretty shade of brown. Her hair was a mess of sorts and her usually pristine uniform was replaced by a black polka-dot style top with a polka-dot skirt. She wore the same shoes as Alya, both of which looked exactly like the ones that Lila always wore. The heeled boots screamed of that girl and Adrien pitied Kagami as much as he did Alya. 

Words were repeated as before. Marinette was belittled, hated, called by her last names, and even threatened with some form of harm if she dared to so much as stay near him because everyone was going to know about her soon and poor, sweet Adrien was just being pulled along by the lying fraud. Sooner than later, he was going to be with Lila because Lila was the best choice and would never lie or try to hurt him.

Focusing hard and channeling energy through Nooroo and Plagg as both Kwami held onto his hand that clutched the crystal and his father stiffened in thought, Adrien sent the angry energy forward into the pair. He was shocked silly himself and both he and his father stumbled back when both Alya and Kagami were blasted back off their feet and landed on their sides, hitting their heads against the cement.

Adrien shoved the crystal into the purification slot quickly before hurrying out to the pair, who were both clutching at their chests. "Alya! Kagami!"

"Adrien, stay back!" Alya shouted through gritted teeth. "Get back in the mansion! Hurry!"

"But you-!?"

Kagami shook her head, struggling to her knees and helping Alya while gritting her own teeth. "A curse has been placed on our hearts. We only have a few moments."

"Lila is trying to control us!" Alya spat, clutching at Kagami's arms as they stood on trembling legs and Adrien backed up as they had told him to. Once within the safety of the mansion's rune circle, he listened as Alya explained what little she could as she fought the magic pulsing through her body in visible, dark jolts. "She did something to our hearts. Shoved her hand into our chests and put something inside them. She's already got Kagami's mother, her own mother and my mother and sisters!" she sobbed through the pain.

Kagami was holding onto her, trembling harder and seemingly putting forth a lot more effort in fighting. "She's unable to see within the grounds so she sends us here! She can't hear anything and she can't see anything even though she makes us say these things! As long as you keep the mansion under it's protection or whatever it is, you are safe inside."

"Tell Mar I'm so sorry!" Alya got out in a weak sob before her face went blank at the same time as Kagami's. They stood straight, darkness making them twitch spasmodically.

Adrien watched in horror beside his father within the safety of the mansion's rune circle as both girls' heads jerked side to side then rolled slightly as though stretching before both turned with matching frowns and milky eyes. "Please, Adrien, stop fighting," Kagami said in that same tone as before the spell had snapped for a bare moment. "Hurting your friends...Isn't that something that Dupain-Cheng would do? She uses and abuses whoever she can get her grimy paws on."

"She's no better than that absolute dungbeetle, Ladybug," Alya spoke with a scowl. It was obvious now that she was fighting because her voice shook slightly when she said it and her eyebrows furrowed. "I can't believe I ever made a blog about her. Good thing I've gotten rid of it and built a new one. One that will show the world and you the truth."

Confusion filled Adrien. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I'm calling it, 'Words From a Real Hero', and it will go up sometime this weekend," she said and her hands clenched at her sides. "We need to get to school now. You better go too. And ignore Dupain-Cheng if you can come to your senses. She's poison, Adrien. A real cockroach with the touch of a black widow."

With that, both girls turned and left the property as Alya had done the day before. Kagami didn't look back like she would have if things were fine. Alya's hands were shaking at her sides in tight fists.

Behind him, he heard a sob and he turned sharply to see Marinette sliding to the floor, gripping at her chest and breaking down. He hurried to her side, kneeling as Gabriel closed the door and moved with speed to her as Nathalie came running from upstairs. She looked ghost-white and scared. "What's the matter Nathalie?" Gabriel asked sharply, stopping from kneeling to turn to his friend and grip her shoulders. 

"Something burst through me just now!" she gasped through heaving breaths as she stared with her wide eyes and no glasses at the man. It took a moment but Adrien realized she was in a loose nightgown, her hair down and her eyes were unhindered in emotion because her glasses weren't on her face. "Duusu-! She-!"

"Where is Duusu!?" both Adrien and Gabriel shouted and Nathalie shakily hurried to pull the trembling and scared but not crying Kwami from her left hip pocket. Adrien blinked because Duusu was alway full of emotion, bursting with it even. What was this? "Duusu, what's wrong?"

"I need to be with Marinette!" she choked out and hovered to his hands. She dropped like a stone, actually hard enough to let all her weight, even the little bit it was, settle in his palms. "Can't be with Nathalie! Marinette is in so much pain! Nathalie can handle-! Don't want Mari to-!" the Kwami whimpered but did not cry, tugging at her feathered plume on her head.

"Nathalie, the Miraculous!" Adrien spoke quickly and Nathalie nodded passing him the surprisingly very active Miraculous to him and he knelt beside the still sobbing and whimpering witch. "Marinette? Marinette!"

She finally looked up, tears pouring down her cheeks. Tikki was clinging to her neck. "Alya-Alya is-!" she choked out and shook her head. "I can't stop crying! I don't know-! Can't stop-!"

Adrien chewed on his lip a moment before hurrying to shove her slightly back onto her butt and shift over her, in a rather dominant pose but he did not give two flips in heck right now, before carefully clipping Duusu's Miraculous under her shirt collar and hiding it under the flap at the same time Marinette blinked in shocked silence while Duusu burst into tears.

The four stayed where they were as Tikki pulled Duusu down into Marinette's collar where her spirit tears didn't so much as wet the garment. Plagg moved around Adrien to look at Nooroo, who had moved down to look at Marinette while Nathalie collapsed against Gabriel's front.

Silence filled the room and Adrien settled on his knees above Marinette, watching her carefully as her emotions burst to the surface only to be swallowed by something and her face went through many hiccups before she gave a gasping breath and reached up to pull him down atop her, clinging to him tightly. "Adrien..." she whispered in a soft tone. "Duusu ate my emotions. She...She took them away and made it so I'm able to breath."

Confusion filled Adrien even as he held onto the girl below him carefully and stood, bringing her with him. He coaxed her into sitting on his hip, which was a little awkward, but not impossible. She kept a tight hold on him even as her red rimmed and wide eyes stared at Nathalie, who realized what had happened herself. "She did what she would do for me when I became Mayura...Before Marinette healed me..." the woman whispered, staring right back with an equal amount of awe and fear. "Marinette's pain is now greater than my own...Without Duusu...she might break."

Both males felt their eyes widen while Nooroo and Plagg looked to each other in realization. "Duusu has the power to heal emotions as well as take on pain from the person wearing her pin," Nooroo explained while Plagg neared Marinette and peeked into the little shadows where Tikki was comforting the quietly sobbing Duusu. "Nathalie felt a physical pain that was destroying her soul before Marinette fixed it. As Nathalie healed and Duusu began to gain her own form of normal, a new person called to her. A new pain."

"So Marinette is feeling such pain that Duusu is keeping her sane?" Adrien asked and Nooroo nodded as Marinette buried her face in Adrien's neck and clung to him as he held her carefully. "Is it because of Alya?"

"Marinette is a special kind of girl," Nooroo spoke and looked to where Plagg was sitting on Marinette's head, gently petting her hair in a way he normally wouldn't do for even Adrien. "Empathy in witches is not unheard of. Neither is it in those chosen to be Ladybug. However, the emotions of both sides are overflowing and Marinette's heart is breaking. Although Duusu's Miraculous is broken, the power will still help Marinette enough to keep her from..." he frowned and looked to the two adults. "Gabriel. Nathalie. You two and myself will be working alone on things. Duusu needs to stay with Marinette for now. Adrien and Plagg along with Tikki will look after her. Plagg knows a special trick that can animate a body should it collapse just long enough to move it to safety," he said and turned back to Adrien, who looked bewildered. "It is a very powerful magic and must be cast by his paw alone. When it happens, you will feel sick. Unbearably so, but being his chosen you should be able to get both yourself and Marinette to a place where Duusu can fix things again."

"A power like that..." Adrien whispered in awe before realizing something. "What about Marinette? How will it affect her?"

"..." Nooroo stayed silent and looked to the floor. "..."

"Nooroo, please," Adrien begged as Marinette clung tighter to him.

"...She's strong enough that it should only make her unconcious..." came the answer. "...But I have seen it put people into a coma. Plagg doesn't use it because one of his chosen abused his power and although Plagg is whole now, he didn't tell you because it can cause many problems when used on certain types of people," Nooroo explained slowly. "If the person is too strong in a way that it interferes with the energy, it can create a fision in the minds and destroy their very existence so that the power can move them, leaving them little more than a puppet of sorts who will listen to Plagg's chosen. If the person is too weak in that they're spirits and mind are already torn, it can...It is a more merciful thing than the power Tikki can use. Hopefully none of you will ever have to feel Tikki's power. Plagg will be careful, won't you?"

Plagg gulped audibly as he continued to pet and smooth out Marinette's hair. "I'll try. I don't...I don't want to harm the little princess...I'm scared but if it comes to it, I think I can do it without interferance from Tikki or hurting the little princess," he whispered just loud enough for them all to hear. He moved to one of the space buns and pulled at it carefully before fluffing himself into it and hiding well out of sight. "I'll stay close to her while Adrien keeps an eye on her, too," came his voice, shaky and scared. 

Adrien felt the anger pulse through him again so strong that he felt something snapping inside him. Like a glass jar cracking. His friends were hurting and now his Lady was breaking apart in his arms while the tiny being he had never seen fear anything was shaking and hiding away. He tightened his hold and looked to Nooroo. "Find that cure while we're gone," Adrien ordered in a low tone that spoke more than even when Gabriel had sounded angry. Nooroo's eyes widened. "Find it and then we will fix everything from the Miraculous to the darkness. I refuse to let anyone hurt Marinette or Plagg anymore."

With that, he grabbed up both their bags on arm while the other held Marinette close and he left the mansion to a shocked silence.

++++

Nooroo felt himself shaking. He clutched at his tiny chest as stared at the closing mansion door and the back of the boy who had just left. 

"I've never seen him so angry," Nathalie whispered behind him and he slowly turned to look up at her while she shook and clutched at Gabriel, who looked horrified himself while staring at the door. "And the energy surge...I've never felt such a feeling from Duusu's Miraculous. Never even when I was sick."

"Nathalie..." Nooroo spoke up and he looked between her and the man holding her as he also addressed him. "Gabriel...What you saw was not anger. It was not darkness. And it was not something that any human or still studying witch should be able to summon forth."

"What was that rage called then? Adrien looked like he would kill anyone who hurt Marinette or his Kwami," Gabriel asked, holding onto Nathalie carefully as she kept her face buried in Gabriel's chest while still shaking. 

Nooroo looked to the tile floor before lifting his gaze. "What you saw was known as 'Kami's Fury' and is often found in those who have power beyond their mortal coil. Adrien is no human if he was able to summon such energy and walk as if it were nothing while holding Marinette and bracing three Kwami on his form. Be they worn by him or not, he was holding onto someone who is breaking and who he loves while the one being he looked to like a brother and friend was so terrified that even I...I have not seen Plagg as scared as he is now in a very, very long time," Nooroo explained with worry in his tone. "Should that anger, that fury, spread to Tikki and Tikki feels she must do something...her own madness will throw this world into Wonderland once again and the balance will once more be broken."

"Wonderland?" Nathalie asked, quaking in her bones as she looked to him. He could tell she was barely able to move. The pulse from Duusu's Miraculous had been enough to shake her to the very core of her soul but not harm it in any way. Thank the goddesses for small favors, Nooroo thought to himself as he prayed to the three he knew were watching in a small thank you.

Nodding, Nooroo led the way to the kitchen. "Come. I will make tea and we will speak. Gabriel will fetch the book while you calm down. Some stories are best told in the sanctity of a blessed room."

+++++

Adrien walked with purpose, feeling his fury bubbling below his skin and threatening to escape even as Marinette continued to cling to him and Plagg continued to hide. 

He could feel the fear coming from the Kwami and from his beloved. He could feel Duusu's suffering as Marinette's own flowed through her tiny body. Tikki was quiet and he could feel something questioning him, calling out and asking him what to do. His answer to it was something even he didn't understand. 

Wait. Don't do anything. Not yet.

People on the street seemed to skirt the pair of teens and he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth as he walked onto the school grounds, feeling the students stumble out of his way in a hurry. He walked to the lockers and everyone seemed to rush out, leaving some of the lockers open in their wake. He slammed them closed just by looking at them, feeling a magic unlike any he had felt before flowing through him.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

His locker opened and his books and folders moved on their own into place. He turned, Marinette not moving as she still kept her face buried and her arms tight around him, and headed to the girl's locker, throwing it open with a single look and it fullfilled its needs as Adrien saw fit.

The locker shut slowly as he felt the anger ebbing slightly. From viscious fury to something just a bit more tame but powerful, he carried the now slightly heavier bags with the same ease as before. Marinette clung to him the whole way, looking to the world like she belonged there, at least in his eyes.

Once they made it to the classroom, he knew there were stares but he walked to the desk he shared with Marinette, ignoring the horrified and angered look in the milky eyes and face of Alya. Madame Bustier didn't question when he sat and set Marinette in a way that she could keep her face buried and her arms around him in a non-restrictive way. He was able to write and press buttons enough for both of them, his magic threatening any who so much as looked their way.

He knew he needed to speak with Juleka. He remembered they needed to connect with Luka to understand the power between both himself and the girl currently holding onto him like her life depended on it. And maybe it did. 

We must wait. We must wait. We must wait.

He nearly snapped his pen when Alya raised her hand and demanded that Marinette be removed from the classroom for sexual harrassment. It was a low blow and coming from the voice of Marinette's best friend, under the control of darkness...

Stop. Control. We cannot. Not yet.

Madame Bustier said no and that it was obvious that Marinette and Adrien were under some form of stress that Adrien didn't mind. She even looked him in the eye and he nodded to her before saying through a deep tone that echoed with murderous intent, "Anyone who takes her from me will know a pain they didn't before."

Alya's milky eyes flashed three times before going back to their milky tone and her face filled with shock. "Y-you can't mean-!"

NOW!

"I mean what I say," he spoke in a hiss as his eyes met the milky ones and he was no longer in the room but on some starry spectral plane staring at Lila, who looked little more than a tiny gorgon to his giant, acidic voiced chimera. She stared at him with wide eyes as her once powerful, stone turning gaze was suddenly useless in the reflection of his own eyes. Like a mirror, he turned her power against her and he could feel as something great and far more powerful spread through the air above him. He could faintly hear the familiar beating of wings. "If you dare to come near us again by using our friends...There will be a fate for you far worse than any hellspawn can cause you. Three-fold is too good for you. Your darkness will eat you alive."

Lila glared at him, the snakes in her hair twisting to hiss at him and the being with him. "Your little trick doesn't scare me! You're just bluffing!" she said with a smirk and turned only to freeze in place. Adrien knew she realized she couldn't leave. "What did you do? Put me back!" she shrieked and he held his ground as the sound echoed around his form. The being above him kept its own ground and seemed to help hold him in place.

Once the energy settled and Lila was out of breath and looked ready to collapse, Adrien stood tall, lifting his dark lion's head as his tail snapped at the air and his own wings beat twice. The being above him sent a blast of energy at the same time as he did, sending Lila screaming as her snakes were severed and cuts covered her body before her form vanished.

Closing his eyes, he felt the fury finally pass and when he opened his eyes, he gazed at Alya, who looked stunned but her eyes were no longer milky. "What was that?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Madame Bustier stood and walked around to stand in front of Alya's current spot. "Alya. What do you remember?"

Adrien felt as Marinette shook but finally seemed to relax, no longer gripping him tightly like before and was lifting her head slowly to look up at him. He smiled down at her and nuzzled her head right beside the space bun where Plagg rested. "There's nothing to fear right now. We handled it," he said and Tikki made a motion he felt against his neck for the first time. She must have moved there at some point and he instinctively knew it was her because she nuzzled under his ear.

"Thank you for holding me back, Adrien," she whispered and his smile softened. "You make for a truly powerful partner. I see why Plagg chose you."

"While I wish I could keep you with me," he whispered and he felt her giggle as her tiny body moved around his collar to move back to look after Duusu, "I kind of like my little kitten."

"Then we are in agreement," she whispered, settling just out of sight and sound of the rest of the class as Alya sobbed and explained what had happened, "I prefer my princess."

Plagg didn't peek out but whispered, "Thank you, Adrien," in a soft but not so scared tone. It warmed the blonde's heart from where it had turned to ice. Ebbing away, the cold was replaced with something else as both Marinette and he turned to look to Alya, who hurried to sit beside Nino and hugged him tightly, sobbing into his chest while he held her, bewildered.

Adrien pulled carefully away from Marinette enough that she could reach out and Alya clutched at her best friend's hand, sobbing how sorry she was, how she felt, how she couldn't stop those horrible things from coming from her lips. The blonde listened closely and remembered the power he had used against Lila with Tikki's help. Without the Ladybug Goddess of Creation, he didn't know how he would have fought back on his own. However, and he swore to himself as the two best friends sobbed together and held tight to each others' hand while Marinette kept a still tight grip on Adrien, he would not now, tomorrow or in the future, dare to remove Tikki from Marinette. 

Although he and Tikki made a formidable force, seeing the way Marinette was smiling through her tears and able to hear as Tikki whispered assurances alongside Duusu, the tiny goddess belonged with his princess. 

However, if the fury returned...His eyes flashed and he felt a gentle pat from the red goddess hidden from sight. 

He would not hesitate.

+++++++++++

A scream filled the air before a body hit the black marked floor.

Lila gasped for breath as a dark, black, ink-like liquid dripped from her lips and the many cuts now on her body. She crawled from the floor of her bedroom to the bathroom and called forth as much energy as possible to climb into the tub. Once she was inside, she had to reach up and twist the knob herself because her magical drawl was so empty.

The water, cold, made her hiss in pain but she was grinning as she stared deliriously up at the ceiling of her tub. Her snakes wandered around the floor outside, peeking in at her before slithering away in fear as she began to laugh so hard and shrill that it shattered some of the tiles and sent cracks up the walls around the mirror, which cracked at the corners and one long line down the middle. The tub quaked and, as the water grew warm, there was a notable creak from the pipes inside the softly thudding walls which threatened to break as everything else around did the same.

"Painful now," she finally breathed, her laugh falling to small giggles of madness. "But that power... It will be mine...Oh, Adrien..." she cooed and stroked her hands up the sides of the tub as she leaned back against the overflowing water that was still cold but was warming as the black ink washed away and formed new snakes that hissed and chased after the other ones. "I can't wait to own such power as yours...It is so..."

She sighed and let her head drop back completely so her face was the only thing above the water and her lips curved into the darkest and most evil smirk. Her hair twisted in its ties like water snakes searching for their own prey. Olive green eyes glinted like the edge of sharpened knives as she purred...

"...Perfect..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the main points in witchcraft that have to do with gods and goddesses is sometimes known as 'Deity Work' and people who work with familiars or 'between-space beings' (such a creature that calls out to them but they cannot see though they know is there) sometimes go to a separate plane to speak with these entities. I wanted to change Adrien's form so that he was better prepared for what lied ahead. 'Kami's Fury' is based on an old story one of my friend's mother's (she was half-Korean and half-Chinese and was incredibly smart and beautiful...I miss her cooking though...) told me and my group of little delinquents many moons ago. 
> 
> According to legend, Kami, or the god between that rested in the sky, once had a son, who he sent forward to Earth, which was known as the mortal plane. Now, his son was wise and similar to stories in the bible that most Christian's know, he spread his knowledge and energy to help those who could not fight or were so sick they couldn't continue on. Kami was proud of his son's goodness and looked to those he had seen born of the Earth, from other gods and goddesses to beings of power that bowed only to him, and gave the boy a gift. He would have but one wife and she would bear the next ruler of the heaven's who would rule alongside both Kami and his son.
> 
> Empowered by this, the son set forth to find a woman of true beauty and kindness, for he believed that it was only the greatest of all humans who could bear the burden of creating the heavens most delicate being. In his search, he found many women who seemed true, but proved to be quite untrustworthy and cruel. In the end, he settled on a woman, delicate and sickly, but kind and full of a sadness as she wished for a child of her own. They were married and Kami blessed them with the hopes of a son and the promise of a bright sun the morning that the child was born.
> 
> However, the sun did not shine and the mortal realm was bore upon by a rage so deep that it took decades for it to heal enough to reach salvation. The reason? The wife was slain by a man who was jealous of Kami's son and soon all was brought upon by a wrath so great, the man took a burden no mortal should bare. The child within the woman became a small stone that was placed within a monastery of sorts, where it rested and will continue to rest until the day Kami forgives the man who destroyed his son's innocent wife and the grandchild. 
> 
> Kami's son supposedly created great weapons (which reminds me so much of Miraculous Ladybug now that I think of it) that were spread among the warriors of his age before he disappeared from history along with the weapons which are said to be hidden treasures among mortals in forms that none understand or believe of importance.
> 
> Yeah, my friend's mom told this story. She used Kami as a universal term because the story has many itterations and many meanings. In some stories the child is a gem which grants life but can also steal it should the holder not be pure of heart. And in some stories, like an English old-wive's tale or perhaps Greek or Roman, that say a man climbed to the very top of a mountain and found a stone so beautiful that he wished to bring it across the sea so his family might be rich and powerful. But when he laid his hand upon it, his body turned to ash and his family suffered until the last of his known relatives faded from existence.
> 
> Like I said, it's just a story and something I heard when I was still in grade school. Stories like these inspire me to believe that there is more to this world than just what we know! I study Wicca and (try to) study Witchcraft in as many forms and from many different scopes. Magic is something that I believe could change this world. Sometimes keeping an open mind is all you need to succeed in life! (And a lot of hard work, but doesn't this sound more romantic?)
> 
> So, I'll leave you with a bit of what's to come! We'll be exploring a bit more of the realm beyond mortals and branch out to Marinette's Green Magic growing while Adrien learns more about this energy that seems to be connected to his White Magic. Where does the Kwami's power stretch and to what end will Lila try to build her world?
> 
> Ladybug and Chat Noir will also be returning soon, along with some friends who never left and have been near for some time though out of sight. As for Hawkmoth and Mayura, some things might change. 
> 
> Keep an eye out and open mind! Stay safe and happy! This has been a note from the Cat Who Writes! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Before anyone says anything, I stretched the valley with the magic thing. Originally I was just going to have it be simple everyday witchcraft instead of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' stuff. But this IS Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir, so of course I had to poof it up a bit. Tikki and Plagg will appear more as the story progresses but I don't want to give too many details.
> 
> And yes, I do study a bit in witchcraft and like to play around with ideas for it. Some of my ideas come from books, others is basic knowledge of Greek Mythology (which will come into the story for reasons) and a bit of knowledge to do with Egyptian Gods (THIS IS NOT YU-GI-OH!!!). I've also been one for crystals so anything anyone finds wrong, let me know so I can edit my own notes. Same goes for my studies in the craft. 
> 
> (EDIT!) I recently delved into the worlds of mindscapes and realms beyond reality. So I hope everyone has an open mind about what I will be explaining and adding onto this story! Have fun reading!


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